Chasing the Remnants
by Miyavilurver
Summary: When Dragon announces that he is heading to Loguetown, Sabo finds himself following along for reasons even he cannot explain. Pre-timeskip. An ASL-family fic.
1. Chapter 1: WANTED

I'm happily getting onto this "what-if-Sabo-got-his-memories-back-earlier" bandwagon. Bit of a slow start, but I promise it will be worth it.

I have a few more chapters of this lined up currently, and yes, an ending in mind though I'm not-quite-there-yet. Aaaaand, I'm looking for a beta reader. Any takers?

That being said I'm going to Japan next month so expect more frequent updates after March is over. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

* * *

 ** _Chapter One: WANTED_**

* * *

 _In a certain island in the Grand Line…_

"Hey, guys! Did you hear the news already?"

"Huh? What news?"

"Look, look! Arlong Park has fallen!"

"What? You're kidding! When?"

"How?"

A clamor befell the mess hall at these news. Hundreds of people, previously huddled over their meals, were now focused on the newspaper that one of their fellow revolutionaries was holding up by the room's main entrance. This wasn't an unusual scene around these parts since, as this was an island that was completely hidden from the World Government, no one ever received newspaper deliveries from the News Coos. Instead, it was up to those in the intelligence team, and those coming back to the base from the outside, to pass along any new information.

As it was, the revolutionary that was currently distributing the few extra newspapers she had been carrying around, was a woman in her mid-thirties who had recently come back from the East Blue.

"It's about time. I'm surprised that place went unchecked for so long!"

"Oh, please. As if we could expect anything else from the government."

There were several grunts of agreement among the revolutionaries as well as a few choice curse words muttered beneath their breaths.

"So who do we have to thank?"

"Hey! This one is missing the new bounties!"

"There's new bounties? Who is it? Let me see!"

The clamor in the room grew louder as people gathered around the newspapers in curiosity. In the middle of it all, there was a young man with blond hair that had yet to stop eating. He spooned several quick bites of seafood rice into his mouth and chewed loudly as his eyes, too, sought out a glimpse of the newspaper.

 _ **THE FALL OF ARLONG PARK**_

There was a large picture of Arlong Park, or what remained of it, beneath the title. The building in the photo was no more than a pile of rubble. The words beneath the picture were too small to read from this distance, but the blond was not interested in reading the article that had surely been tailored by the World Government with the purpose of twisting this incident to their favor. What he was interested on was catching a glimpse of the new bounties that had come with this newspaper edition.

"Oi! Lemme see!" he called out to the crowd gathered nearest to him.

A few people glanced at him, then grimaced in disgust as they saw him stuff a squid into his mouth that was large enough that it didn't quite fit in one bite. A few others snickered slightly, all too used to the familiar sight. Still, they passed the new bounties his way, encroaching into his space as they leaned over the table to continue looking at it.

"Can you believe this kid is the one that took Arlong down?"

"I'd've never guessed!"

"He doesn't look like much," someone said over his shoulder, "what is he, fifteen? There's no way he took him down."

The young man had nothing to add to the conversation around him. While some of his fellow revolutionaries were dubious and others were impressed, he merely stared at the bounty poster in front of him in silence. For a long moment, he found himself captivated by the large, blinding grin on the paper. The kid staring back at him looked young, certainly, but something about him seemed to instill him with confidence.

 _Luffy._

He carefully read the bolded words beneath the picture, his eyes lingering on them for several seconds.

 _Monkey D. Luffy._

The blond swallowed the squid in his mouth in an absentminded gulp, then suddenly began to choke. He spluttered, wide-eyed, and pounded his fist hard into his chest as he quickly reached to grab a glass of water.

"Oi! Watch where you're spitting!"

"You alright there, Chief?"

"CHEW YOUR FOOD PROPERLY, GODDAMMIT!" a few people screamed exasperatedly.

"S-Sorry, sorry," the blond coughed, clearing his throat with a grimace that soon turned into a sheepish grin. His gaze was drawn back to the poster. He picked it up in his hand, while his other reached for a napkin.

"30,000,000 beri, huh? That's pretty impressive for a bounty in the East Blue," he said with a small touch of pride.

"Ah, that's right, you're from the East Blue too, aren't you, Sabo?"

"That's right," the blond confirmed as he finished wiping his face clean. The grin on his face had yet to fade away. Something inside of him felt light; excited even. Whether it was due to the good news or the good food, he felt overcome by rush of energy that he couldn't quite describe. He placed the bounty back down on the table, next to the tall stacks of plates he had all but licked clean, and got up to his feet. "Well then, time to burn off all this food. Anyone here wanna have a go?" he said loudly.

Several people inched away from him at once. Sabo huffed. "Fine then, you wimps. Let me through."

The crowd dispersed around him as people headed back to their seats to continue eating. The conversation fell back into a lull as everyone continued to discuss the newspaper's contents. Sabo made his way out of the mess hall in a few quick steps, unable to sit still. There was an itch beneath his skin that he needed to sate.

He headed towards his usual training spot, the heels of his boots clicking quietly against the stone floor. Perhaps it was just his good mood, but the routine walk caused a small, brief smile to cross his lips.

 _I guess I must be around twenty now, huh…_

There was something about the stray thought that felt very certain. Sabo wasn't sure why it had even crossed his mind. He had never been particularly concerned about how old he was. To this day, he still couldn't even remember when his actual birthday was.

 _Not that it matters,_ Sabo thought ruefully. The memories of his past, or rather the lack thereof, was something that he had long since made peace with. The barrier that blocked his past from his present was something that he didn't feel the need to touch.

 _Huh, why am I even thinking about this stuff?_ Sabo ran a hand through his hair and frowned. He found himself missing the weight of his hat. As he reached a corner, he took a quick left instead of a right, deciding to head to his room first to pick up his gear. That's when a familiar silhouette in the distance caught his eye.

"Dragon-san!"

Sabo grinned widely. He picked up his pace, his clattering footsteps resounding across the hallway. Dragon turned and flashed a toothy grin upon seeing him.

"Sabo," he said, his gruff voice colored in equal parts pleasure and surprise.

"I didn't know you were back!" Sabo exclaimed. "How did it go?"

The cloaked man shrugged lightly. "As well as can be expected. But we can put that aside for now. Since you're here, I'm interested in knowing if we've made any progress with the situation in Alabasta."

Sabo straightened up. A serious expression settled on his face as he shook his head. "Not quite," he reported. "We've been trying to track down where the shipment of Dance Powder is coming from, but whoever is behind it is keeping their tracks clean."

"I see." Dragon frowned for a moment. "I suppose there's still some time left for them…" The man fell silent as he contemplated the matter. His eyes drifted away from Sabo's face as he turned to stare out the window. Sabo followed his gaze briefly. He took in the all-too-familiar sight of the white plains that Baltigo was known for. The wind today was as strong as ever, though the sky itself was clear, with only a few clouds drifting along. A flock of rather large birds were riding the current as they flew high towards the east. Sabo was pretty sure that's what they were having for dinner today.

Inexplicably, he found himself thinking about the newspaper article again.

"Hey, did you hear about Arlong Park yet?"

"Hm," Dragon's voice rumbled quietly. "I did."

He said nothing more than that on the subject. Sabo wasn't surprised by the short answer. The leader of the Revolutionary Army was, when he wanted to be, a man of few words. For all the charisma he displayed when he was delivering speeches and rallying their troops, he was often a very quiet, mysterious man. It was hard to tell what he was thinking at times. This unintentionally caused him to come across as intimidating to many, to the point that it discouraged even his own men from approaching him from time to time.

Sabo, who had not only grown up admiring this man as his savior, but who also prided himself as a person that never backed down in the face of authority, was not one to be easily discouraged.

"It looks like there's a new rookie out there doing the Marines' job for them," the blond said with a light grin. "I almost wanna go thank the kid personally. It's always nice to hear when someone's wreaking havoc in that rotten sea."

Dragon seemed to be holding back a grin himself. There was a glint in his eyes that Sabo couldn't quite place, though if he were to look in the mirror, he would find that the same expression was displayed on his own face.

"Indeed," the older man said softly. He turned away from the window then. Without saying a word, he began walking away. Sabo followed him.

"Where are you off to next? Are we having a meeting today?"

"No. Perhaps tomorrow." Dragon pulled up his hood, and without losing his pace, he announced: "I'm leaving."

"Already?" Sabo didn't miss a beat. "Where to?"

"Loguetown."

"Loguetown?" Sabo repeated, this time surprised. _The Pirate King's…_ The half-formed thought faded as he tried to figure out why their leader would want to visit that place. _Wait,_ _there's no way he's going to make it back by tomorrow._ Sabo opened his mouth to say so, but instead, he somehow found himself blurting out, "can I come with?"

There was a brief stretch of silence. Sabo stopped in his tracks as his brow furrowed in confusion. He felt a bead of sweat slide down the side of his face. "Sorry," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I don't know why—"

He faltered and pressed his lips together. A foreign weight settled inside of him. Why had he said that? After all these years… he'd never once wanted to go back to the East Blue. And yet…

He couldn't deny that there was a desire inside of him now. He wanted to go. The itch beneath his skin felt stronger than ever just at the mere thought.

"Alright."

Sabo's head snapped up. "Huh?"

Dragon was still walking, though he had noticeably slowed down his pace. He spoke as calmly as ever, acting as if he hadn't noticed Sabo's inner turmoil. "But I'm not planning to bring a ship this time, so it may not be the most pleasant ride. I suggest bringing a raincoat."

"Huh?"

Dragon finally glanced back at him. There was a slight smirk curled at his lips.

"Go on then, gather your things. I suppose it's about time you learn something new about me."

* * *

 _Later…_

"I'm not sure whether to be really impressed or really shocked right now."

"I tend to elicit that sort of reaction," Dragon said with a sharp grin.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "En Route" Sabo and Dragon make a small detour on their way to Loguetown.


	2. Chapter 2: En Route

A little more exposition for now - we'll be moving things along some more next chapter :D Thank you all for all your feedback! I am glad to hear you are enjoying this!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two: En Route**_

* * *

They made it to the first half of Paradise at a much quicker speed than Sabo had originally anticipated. Of course, he hadn't anticipated that they'd be _flying._

"YOU KNOW, WE COULD CHECK IN ON KOALA ALONG THE WAY AT THIS RATE. MAYBE SHE HAS SOME MORE NEWS FOR US."

Dragon said nothing in response to this suggestion. Or at least, Sabo didn't think so. Then again, it was hard to hear anything in the middle of the storm that they were in. Sabo winced as a loud clap of thunder roared several feet behind him. He really should have brought earplugs with him. Or another coat. As if the rain wasn't bad enough, the speed they were going in was making the wind cut sharply into his skin even through his clothing. He held back a shiver, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to endure this.

He had been the one who asked to come along in the first place. It wouldn't do to complain about their means of transportation.

Plus, it was pretty cool to be riding on top of a dragon.

 _I thought his skin would feel more like a crocodile's…_ Sabo thought as he pressed himself closer to the Mythical Zoan's reptilian body in an attempt to minimize the amount of wind hitting his face. Thankfully, he had the foresight of bringing his sunglasses or he would have a harder time seeing anything at all. Not that he could see much in the first place, being this high up in the sky. Sabo had always held a faint longing in his heart for a life of sailing the seas, but he had never felt that longing more strongly than he did right now. Even the temperamental waters of the Grand Line felt safer to navigate through in comparison to this.

He suppressed another shiver as the skin of his cheek brushed up against the cool, carp-like scales of Dragon's body. It was a very weird sensation. The scales that covered his body felt a lot smoother than the blunt, protruding scales that ran across the entirety of the dragon's back. Sabo couldn't help but to ponder on whether he'd taste like a fish, a snake, or a crocodile… He found his mouth watering slightly at the thought.

A bolt of lightning crashed a few inches to their left and Sabo aborted all thoughts of food as he wondered if he was going to make it out of this alive. A slightly hysterical bout of laughter escaped his lips.

 _Oh god, I'm going to die, aren't I?_

Not that he doubted Dragon's regard for his safety, but…

Sabo winced as another couple bolts of lightning rained down around them.

 _Who the hell flies in these kind of conditions!?_

Sabo tried to relax, he really did, but it was hard to forget that they were flying at an altitude that wasn't remotely possible to be at under normal circumstances. If he were to fall from this height, it would absolutely mean instant death in one way or another. He also really didn't want to find out whether he could survive being struck by lightning.

As if the dragon he was riding on could hear his inner complaints—and was choosing to ignore them—at that moment, Dragon took a sudden turn that had Sabo clenching his thighs until they were pressed tightly against the protruding scales that lay between them. His gloved hands, too, tightened their grip on the thick, black mane that surrounded the back of Dragon's neck.

"Oh god, what now…" he muttered between clenched teeth.

The blond took a quiet breath through his nose and used a few seconds to brace himself. Then, he craned his neck to the side to try and get a glimpse of what was happening. It seemed like they were descending... Sabo squinted through his dark lenses. He could somewhat make out the silhouette of an island coming into view in the far distance.

"Hey—err, HEY, IS THAT—"

Sabo's voice was drowned out by another roar of thunder, but in another minute he would no longer need a confirmation to know that the island ahead was none other than Cactus Island.

Nevertheless, Dragon's body rumbled slightly as he said something in reply, but Sabo couldn't quite make out what he was saying amidst the surrounding noise.

" _WHAT?!_ "

Unfortunately, that was all the warning he got before Dragon took an unexpectedly swift dive below. Sabo's terrified yell was lost among the dark grey clouds.

* * *

Once they landed on the ground, Sabo let his knees give out shamelessly. The blond slouched over in exhaustion, leaning all of his weight on the palms of his hands as he stared at the floor beneath him like it was an old lover.

"Ugh. Why is it still raining?" he complained as he felt the steady shower of water continue to drum against his back. He reluctantly raised his head to look at Dragon, who no longer looked like a sixty-foot-long version of his namesake. The man seemed entirely unconcerned by the weather as he stood there, staring down at him. Sabo scowled fiercely as he met the other's eyes, remembering all too clearly the way they had just landed. Though Dragon's expression was cool and collected, Sabo just knew the other man was silently laughing at him.

"See if you can get in touch with Koala," Dragon said without a change in his expression. "We'll leave in an hour."

"Right…" Sabo muttered. He watched Dragon walk off towards the center of the town. While there weren't many people outside at the moment due to the ongoing storm, with his dark coat and imposing figure, the older man easily blended in among the bounty hunters wandering around Whiskey Peak.

Once he was out of sight, Sabo let out a small sigh and slowly got up to his feet. He made a futile attempt to brush off some of the dirt clinging to the fabric of his coat as he made his way out of the cemetery they had discretely landed in.

 _Dragon-san, you bastard,_ Sabo thought mutinously. It wasn't often that he thought badly about the leader of the Revolutionary Army, but the blond thought his ire was more than justified just then. He had not appreciated that sudden drop, nor was he happy about the way Dragon had abruptly transformed back to his human form and proceeded to manhandle him like a small kitten as he carried Sabo the rest of the way down by the back of his coat.

A cold breeze blew by, reminding him of exactly how wet he was at the moment. Wearing a raincoat had kept most of his clothes dry, but the edges of his sleeves and the lower parts of his pants still ended up completely soaked. Even his hair hadn't been spared despite having had his hood up; his blond curls were clinging on to him like a second skin.

As he carefully began looking around for the familiar faces of his fellow revolutionaries, Sabo considered who would be the best target to steal some clothes from. Now that he had better foresight, there was no way he was going to go through this again without a better coat on. It was cold up there, and his damp hair was beginning to drip onto the collar of his shirt.

He sneezed.

"Ugh, I can't wait to get out of these clothes," he grumbled.

"Oh?" A quiet, feminine voice broke through his musings. "Maybe I can help you with that."

Sabo tensed momentarily, then scowled in annoyance as he recognized the aura of the person standing behind him.

"Very funny."

"Hehe. It took you long enough to notice me. Are you losing your touch, Sabo-kun?"

Sabo turned around to face the very woman he had been looking for. The smug smirk on Koala's lips made his scowl deepen. "Oh, shut up," he told her. "This doesn't count."

Koala's fingers drummed against the stem of her umbrella as she raised her eyebrows, unimpressed by his claim. "Right," she scoffed. "Fine, then. In that case, how about you start telling me what the Chief of Staff is doing all the way over here?"

Sabo opened his mouth to explain before thinking better of it. His eyes darted around, and although no one around them was looking their way, he grabbed Koala's wrist and pulled her towards the back of the nearest building.

"Hey!"

"I'm here with the boss," Sabo murmured quietly as he let go of his longtime friend. Koala's eyes widened in surprise. A small frown appeared on her face but she said nothing as she leaned in closer to listen. "We're not on official business, technically. At least, not as far as I know anyway." Now that he thought about it, Sabo was surprised he hadn't bothered to ask Dragon what he was planning to do in the East Blue. It was very easy to fall into that man's pace... "We're heading to Loguetown," he said.

"Loguetown? What for?"

Sabo shrugged and flashed her a small grin.

"Geez, that's helpful."

"Yeah, well, since this place was on the way, we decided to stop by for a bit. I figured you could use the break. Got any updates for us?"

Koala's easygoing expression dimmed as she shook her head. "No. We ought to have taken on this job much earlier," she said, frustration etched in the lines of her face. "Their information network is basically nonexistent - nobody knows anything about anyone! There's definitely something weird about the organization though."

"Something weird?"

"Yeah… the upper rank members are definitely up to something strange. We're going to be moving on to the next island soon. Hopefully the Officer Agents will give us a better lead to the mysterious Mr. 0."

"I see…" Sabo wrinkled his nose. He didn't envy Koala's current assignment. Despite the nature of their job, he had never been a fan of undercover missions when he could go all out instead. Still, he was more than familiar with the need for discretion. "Well, it sure sounds like a drag, but I'm sure you'll run into something good with your luck."

Koala's mood perked up a little at his encouragement. "Oh? You think it's all luck, do you?" she smirked, causing Sabo to grin in response.

"Are you saying it's not?"

"Sabo-kun…" Koala said in a sweet voice as she twirled her umbrella between her fingers. "Do you want to test out _your_ luck?"

A crash of thunder rumbled above them and the sky lit up. On any other day, Sabo would have taken that as a sign to quit while he was ahead of the game. Instead, it only served to remind him exactly of how wet he was and who was responsible for it. He felt a brief flash of dismay as he thought of getting back out on the road so soon…

"...Err, okay, why are you staring at me like that?"

"Say, Koala… How do you feel about taking a break before you move on from here? Think you can spare a few hours?"

"...What did you have in mind?" the redhead asked in a dubious voice, not trusting the growing grin on Sabo's face.

"Come with us! I don't think we'll take too long. The boss said he wanted to make it back to the base before tomorrow night."

Koala raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment on the incredulous statement. "Where is he anyway?"

Sabo pointed in the direction he last saw Dragon walk off to. "I think he went to one of the bars, so if you're coming, you should probably pick up some extra provisions on the way back to make up for it."

Koala winced. That more than anything else was enough encouragement to get her to agree. "Right… Well, I'm all for it, but hey, how did you guys even get here? I'd know if a ship had docked at the port. Kinda our job to know."

At that question, Sabo adjusted his sunglasses. "About that… You wouldn't happen to have a good raincoat or two with you, would you?"

"Huh?"

* * *

 _Later…_

"You know, I'm not sure whether to be really impressed or really shocked right now," Koala said as she stared at Dragon.

"Right?!"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "Loguetown" Sabo and Koala are given some time to explore and run across a few colorful characters.


	3. Chapter 3: Loguetown

Greetings from Japan! I've still got a week left before I get back home but I could not resist updating another chapter before then. There is so much One Piece everywhere... It's great.

In other news, I have been trying to resist buying the Thousand Sunny figurine and ASL figurine and I am not sure I will win this battle... Tune in next week for the thrilling conclusion of my life choices lmao.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three: Loguetown**_

* * *

 _Loguetown..._

Due to a certain incident, this location had become a very popular tourist spot over the last twenty-two years. It was due to that very same incident that this place was now more commonly known as the town of the beginning and the end. Indeed, this town was the place where Gol D. Roger was born and executed—the town where the Great Age of Pirates began.

It was also as a town that, typically, had a very agreeable sort of weather, with moderately clear skies and the occasional but in no way constant, drizzle of rain. And yet… on this particular day, the clouds above Loguetown were as dark as the night sky. Thunder rumbled ominously as a downpour of heavy rain crashed across the entire island.

The cause behind this strange phenomenon was none other than the leader of the trio that had just arrived at this island.

"Sabo-kun… Are we still alive?" Koala asked weakly as she slumped to the ground on her hands and knees.

"Yeah…"

The young man that stood beside the cloaked woman looked just as worse for the wear, but despite the green tinge on his face, his lips were thinned with determination as he stood his ground.

"I don't… I don't want to go through that again," Koala groaned as she slowly got up to her feet. "Why did I agree to come along with you guys again?"

Sabo had no answer for her this time. He himself had yet to figure out why he had decided to accompany their leader to this island. He still wasn't even sure why Dragon had decided to come here. The older man hadn't bothered to share his reasons with them, and even now, they were no closer to deciphering what his purpose here was.

Currently, the man in question was standing in front of them silently. A closer look at his face showed that he had his eyes closed and was frowning.

Sabo and Koala exchanged a look.

"Um, Dragon-san?"

"We're early," the older man finally said as he opened his eyes.

Sabo's brow furrowed slightly. Koala, who was just as confused and curious, asked:

"Early? For what?"

Dragon turned to look at Koala with a thoughtful expression.

"Koala, will you need to return to Whiskey Peak today?" he asked.

"Err..." Koala was taken aback by the question. "Not really," she said, tilting her head. "It's not like they keep track of every single one of us at all times. As long as I show up by tomorrow, the mayor should be none the wiser."

Dragon contemplated these words briefly. "I see. In that case, I'm going to go book us a couple of rooms. You two don't have to come with me. We can regroup later."

"So we're staying?" Sabo said, surprised by this turn of events.

"Just for the night. Keep your heads down while you're here. There's a Marine Base in the city."

Dragon waited for long enough for them to nod at his instructions before he was walking off on his own again. The two of them stared at his back for a while as they silently wondered what they were supposed to do now.

"So... this is Loguetown," Koala finally said as she moved to peek over the corner of the building that they were hiding behind. Like Sabo, this was the first time she had been to this town. Her brown eyes lingered on the various shops that were lined up on both sides of the street, and then at the people walking alongside it. Unlike those who lived at Whiskey Peak, there were plenty of people here walking around outside despite the current weather, each equipped with an umbrella and many carrying their purchases in tightly-closed vinyl bags. Everyone was in a hurry to get behind closed doors though.

"Hmm. Somehow, I expected it to be more lively," Koala noted as she considered whether or not to purchase an umbrella. She regretted not bringing hers along now.

"Yes, well…" Sabo said dryly. Another bolt of lightning cracked loudly in the distance, and the people around them visibly picked up their pace.

Koala sighed.

"Think the weather will clear up any time soon?"

"Who knows…"

* * *

 _Several minutes later…_

"Mmmmm, this town's the best...! They've got everything! This place alone has orange beef stew, crab cakes, bluefin tuna, and peacock—fried peacock! It's way better than chicken. You should try it, Koala!"

"...Ugh. Would it kill you to not think with your stomach for once?"

Koala, who was sitting several seats away from her companion with a generous serving of stew in front of her, gave Sabo a warning look. "You better have money to pay for all of that because I have enough to worry about as it is. I really should've checked how much damage the boss did before we left town…" Koala put a hand up to her face and grimaced. "God, we were short on food already… Well, at least you didn't stop by to eat too," she grumbled. "Honestly, I'm always amazed by how much the two of you consume in one sitting. Where do you guys even fit it in?!"

Sabo's only response to that was to pick up another leg of the fried peacock he was currently enjoying. He stuck the entire piece into his mouth, bone and all, and sucked it clean just as the man behind the bar placed another order of the same dish in front of him.

"Would you like a refill?" the server asked with the happy kind of grin one gives to a very wealthy benefactor. "Perhaps something else to drink?" he continued as he brought up an expensive-looking bottle of sake from under the counter.

Sabo shook his head. "Water's fine," he told him after pulling out the empty bone from his mouth.

"Excuse me!"

The tavern's doors slammed open as a group of men of towering heights staggered inside. The man at the front, a burly, mean-faced brute with a large tattoo of a snake on his arm, spoke in a booming voice as he walked into the establishment. He was obviously the group's leader.

"I don't want to cause any trouble here, but me and my buddies are real hungry."

The man gave a brief, careless glance around the room before walking up to the table nearest to him and pulling the chair out from the occupant sitting on it. The noise in the tavern dimmed down at once, broken only by the startled cry from the unfortunate victim and the jeering laughter of the newcomers, who proceeded to vacate several other seats in the same manner as their leader.

"Hey! Get me the most expensive bottle you have, and some more of whatever this guy was having," the tattooed man ordered as he sat down.

Koala let out a harried sigh under her breath. "Oh great… Just what we needed…"

Sabo glanced over his shoulder, his cheeks bulging with food, and quietly observed as one of the waitresses approached the man with a slightly nervous expression on her face.

"Excuse me, sir… I'm afraid these seats are already taken. If you would please follow me, we still have some empty seats over by the bar…"

"Huh?" The man didn't take well to that. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he growled. "Bring out the booze and don't keep us waiting!"

The waitress visibly hesitated. She glanced at the customers who had been pushed to the floor—a few shook their heads as they met her eyes, but the rest were clearly angry at the way they had been treated and were glaring at her as if it was her responsibility to fix this.

"Um…"

"Excuse me, miss. Please continue on your way, I'll take care of this."

The person who interrupted this tense scene was a short-haired woman carrying a sword at her side. At the firm sound of her voice, everyone who had been pretending to ignore what was going on turned their heads in curiosity. Sabo, for his part, decided to turn around completely to watch the scene, holding his plate of food in front of him as he continued to eat.

A snort of disbelief escaped the tattooed man. "You're going to take care of me?" he repeated. An ugly, mocking grin spread across his face as he glanced over to the rest of his companions, who snickered alongside him.

Sabo didn't need to see the woman's face to feel the icy glare she was giving the man. "Yes," she said curtly. "I suggest that you do as that young lady said and move to a different seat. Otherwise, leave this place immediately. Don't make any more trouble for these people. This will be your only warning."

"My only warning?" The man stared at the swordswoman with an incredulous expression before letting out a loud, bellowing laugh that shook his entire body. "GYAHAHAHA, that's funny, very funny! Thanks for the laugh, doll. Now why don't you go bother someone else before you get yourself hu-UURK!"

The man went flying across the room and out the door of the tavern as a thick, concentrated cloud of smoke slammed into him.

"Boss!"

"Captain!" The young woman immediately turned to her left with an annoyed scowl on her lips. A pair of glasses slid down the bridge of her thin nose. "I could've handled that!" she protested.

The person that the woman had turned to address was a buff, white-haired man wearing a white jacket that did little to cover his otherwise bare chest. It was from one of his arms that the thick smoke in the room had originated from.

 _A Devil Fruit user…_ Sabo noted with interest.

The man in question looked wholly unaffected by the woman's piercing glare. Once his arm had reformed, he waved a dismissive hand in the air and motioned for her to sit back down. "He was annoying me," he said gruffly by way of explanation.

Sabo held back a snort and watched as the group of men that had come in with the tattooed man rushed out to check up on their leader. However, just as they reached the door, they were pushed back by the arrival of several marines who hurried inside.

"Is everything alright in here?"

"Hey, you," the white-haired man barked immediately, and the marines straightened up at once and saluted him. "Take these punks into custody. Especially that buffon lying out there."

"Sir!"

Within a minute, the tavern had been cleared of the marines and with them went its recent batch of rude customers. A small silence lingered for several seconds before everyone returned to their meals as if nothing had happened.

Koala whistled quietly as she caught Sabo's eyes. "The boss was right," she whispered to him, then looked pointedly at the tall stack of plates besides Sabo. "We better keep our heads down while we're here. I really don't want to get on that guy's bad side."

Sabo, who seemed to have this incurable habit of pulling an eat-and-run despite not having any real need to, got out his wallet with a sigh.

* * *

"Oh, hey! The weather cleared up," Koala noted happily once they were back outside. She pulled back her hood and ran a hand through the damp red locks of her hair. They had mostly dried while they had been eating. "I think I'm gonna do some shopping. Hopefully there's still some shops open at this time. You wanna come along?"

"Nah," Sabo said, absently patting the much thinner wallet in his pocket. "I think I'm just gonna take a walk and see if I can find the boss."

"Gotcha. In that case… here."

Sabo's eyebrows lifted as he stared at the item that had been deposited into his hand. "A baby den den mushi? You had this with you?"

Koala grinned proudly. "It's always good to be prepared!" she chirped.

Sabo cracked a smile. "When did you become so dependable?" he teased. "Are you trying to take over Hack's job already? You're still ten years too early, you know!"

"I don't wanna hear that from you!" Koala huffed and took a swipe at him, but Sabo quickly hopped back and sped off in the opposite direction of the marketplace.

"I'll see you later then!" he called over his shoulder.

"You better pick up when I call!" she shouted back.

Sabo grinned at the warning. He placed the den den mushi in one of his coat's inner pockets then picked a random direction as he began his search. Now that his stomach had been filled with food, he felt a little at a loss of what to do. If he was being honest with himself, he had to admit that he still wasn't sure why exactly he had decided to accompany Dragon all the way here.

Being in the East Blue was an experience that Sabo normally avoided if possible. Every time he had a job here, a tension that he could not sate always lingered in his body until he was back home. This time was no different. Just looking at the people chattering around him made his stomach twist in an uncomfortable knot. The only saving grace that this town had was the lack of Nobles in the area. Well, that and one more thing.

 _Gol D. Roger…_

Sabo's shoulders lost a small bit of tension up as he reminded himself that this was the Pirate King's hometown. If there was anything to be excited about in these parts of the sea, it was definitely that. Sabo wondered where exactly Roger had lived before he set sail. Had he been buried here, too? There were so many mysteries regarding the Pirate King's life and death. It made Sabo curious to know what kind of man he really was. What type of childhood had he had? Had he grown up with parents? What had inspired him to set sail and conquer the world…?

 _I wonder if there's still anyone living here that knew him…_

Sabo dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. There was no way the World Government would have left alone a speaking witness in a town as famous as this one.

 _Well, it has only been, what, twenty-something years?_ Sabo reconsidered, unable to keep himself from growing excited by the possibilities. He took a slow look around the residential area he had wandered into. While he doubted there was anyone left in this town that could accurately claim that they knew the Pirate King, it was likely that he would be able to get some stories from the residents here that still held some truth to them. He knew quite well that the spread of information was hard to control. The only way the government could combat it was by providing the public with enough false information that it was hard to tell where the lies began and ended. That was exactly why he had decided to avoid the shopping district. That place was undoubtedly nothing more than a government-sanctioned tourist trap.

"Hey!" a loud voice barked several feet behind him. Sabo peered over his shoulder just as a group of mischievous children ran right past him.

"Get back here, you damn kids! How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my garden!"

The group of kids did not lose any speed as they glanced back at the man that was chasing them. Sabo felt a burst of warmth blossom inside of him as he watched the tallest of the kids stick his tongue out defiantly.

"Shut up, old man!"

"Yeah, shut it!" the two other boys chorused, snickering, though their expressions quickly changed into panic as they realized how close their pursuer was.

"Crap, hurry up!" the taller boy hissed and the three boys soon disappeared from sight at the next corner.

"Tch." The man that had been chasing the kids finally slowed down a few feet ahead of him. He was a thin man, old too, probably around sixty. He was wearing a white sun hat and a red floral shirt that caught Sabo's attention. For some reason, he felt the urge to rub the top of his head.

"Those damn kids..." the old man grumbled. He turned around with an irritated huff, the wrinkles around his eyes twitching in displeasure.

Sabo couldn't hold back his grin. "What did they do?" he asked curiously.

The man stiffened in surprise. It was clear that he had not noticed Sabo's presence, or his proximity. His eyes quickly took in his shady appearance—Sabo was still wearing the dark brown raincoat he had donned for travel and his trusty pipe remained a visible threat strapped across his back-and then darted around to see if he could spot any other suspicious figures lurking in the dark. When the old man found none, his shoulders relaxed slightly, though his eyes were still guarded as he answered the question.

"Those kids," he said in a gruff voice, "they like to sneak into my garden from time to time. They like playing pirate, and so they keep digging into my garden when I'm not watching. Think they'll find treasure buried there for some reason."

The old man shook his head, scowling at his own explanation. Sabo, on the other hand, only grinned wider.

"They might stop once they actually find something," he suggested, his voice laced with amusement.

The man seemed to consider his words, then threw him a shrewd look.

"You a pirate?" he asked. Demanded, more like.

Sabo considered pulling his hood back, but he doubted the scars on his face would help him win the old man over. "No, I'm not," he said, keeping his tone friendly. The old man didn't seemed inclined to believe him. "But I once wanted to be," he offered, chuckling as the other grimaced.

"Hmph. Smartened up, did ya?"

"You could say that," Sabo answered with a slight smirk.

The old man said nothing for several seconds. He walked a few steps closer, then leaned on the fence of one of the houses and went through the motions of lighting up a cigarette. The silence that lingered in the air made Sabo wonder if this was his cue to move on, but it was just as he took his first step away that the old man spoke up again.

"This town sure has gone to hell, everyone here welcomes pirates with open arms. Once money comes into the picture, everyone quickly forgets the fact that they're consorting with criminals." The man let out a breath of smoke. Even though he was standing several feet away from him, Sabo's nose twitched at the heavy scent.

"I see you're not a big fan of pirates," he noted as he carefully moved a few steps closer. He leaned on the fence that was on the opposite side of the other and crossed his arms over his chest. "I was wondering what type of reaction would be more common in a town like this."

"Oh, it's about an even split," the old man grumbled. "Don't be fooled by what you see in the markets. Most people there might put on a pretty smile for that good-for-nothing rabble, but it's all business in the end, dirty as it is. Still, you'll find plenty of pirate lovers in town, despite all of the Marine's efforts to discourage that."

"From what I noticed, it seems the marines run a tight ship here," Sabo pointed out, thinking back on the scene at the restaurant.

"Met Captain Smoker, did you?" the old man said knowingly.

 _Smoker, huh? Is that a nickname?_ Sabo thought back on the two cigars hanging from the man's mouth and the way his arm had turned into smoke.

"He's a good man, Captain Smoker. I've known him since he was a boy. He was a little punk back then too." The old man chuckled. "Strong morals though, always did the right thing, even if he went about it in a rough way. You had better steer clear of him," the man warned, pointing his cigarette at him. "There's been plenty of suspicious characters lurking around lately. He might think you're the wrong sort."

Sabo couldn't help but to chuckle at the warning. "Maybe I am," he pointed out.

"Maybe you are," the old man agreed slowly, letting out another breath of smoke. "All the more reason to steer clear of him."

Sabo was surprised to hear the other say as much. "I thought you didn't like pirates, old man."

"I don't," the man answered sharply. Sabo watched him carefully. There was a heavy weight in his eyes that made him look even older. "They're all a bunch of troublemakers, even the ones that aren't just bloodthirsty, thieving brutes. There's something different about you though…" The man stared at him, and perhaps it was because Sabo's face wasn't visible, but he had the distinct impression that the old man was seeing someone else when he looked at him. "And if I'm wrong… Well, good riddance," he spat, before taking another deep breath of smoke. "Roger's curse will catch up to you one way or another."

"Roger's curse?" The blond could not help but to learn forward at those words.

The old man scowled deeply at his bold-faced interest. "Yes," he grunted, crushing the stem of his cigarette hard between his fingers. "That damn Roger cursed his era. He's poisoned the entire sea with his madness, tricked all kinds of people into chasing after a fool's dream that has caused nothing but death and destruction. The marines should have just killed him off when they had him rather than make a spectacle of the whole thing."

The old man's hatred was strong. His voice was nothing short of bitter; he was a man that had unmistakably lost someone.

Sabo frowned but let the topic drop. If this man had known anything of Roger's early years, it wasn't worth asking about it now and stirring the nest of resentment that had surely eroded those memories.

"What will you do about those kids?" he asked instead after another lingering silence. He was curious about his answer after everything he had heard.

 _Will you push them to join the marines? Be like that Smoky guy?_

"Pray, I suppose," the man said bitterly. "And hope they smarten up too."

Sabo's lips twitched slightly. He pulled down the brim of his hood and wondered why he felt a strange sense of peace at those words. Without given it further thought, he straightened up and put all his weight back on his feet. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me," he said with a slight bow. If the old man thought it weird that a cloaked, suspicious stranger was bowing to him, he didn't mention it. The blond walked towards the path he had been following earlier, only to stop within a few feet of doing so.

"Oh, by the way," Sabo craned his head back, "did you happen to see anyone else like me around?" he asked.

The old man took another long drag of his cigarette before answering. The tension in his body seemed to seep out of him with the action. "Plenty," he said dryly. "I doubt I can point you in the right direction. It's a big town. But if you haven't yet, you might want to try the execution stand. Everyone ends up there at some point or another."

"I'll check it out then. Thanks."

Just like before, the old man said nothing in the face of his gratitude. He merely pushed back to his feet and walked back to his home, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "The Execution Platform" Sabo visits the execution platform, hoping it will shed some light into the mystery of his past.


	4. Chapter 4: The Execution Platform

And now, for the update everyone has been waiting for: I am now the proud owner of the Thousand Sunny mini figurine and the ASL Brotherhood figurine set lmao.

Also, guys, this is my favorite chapter. It's the chapter that gave birth to this story, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Let me know what you think!

* * *

 ** _Chapter Four: The Execution Platform_**

* * *

In the end, Sabo did not get the chance to visit the execution platform. It was as he was on his way there that he spotted a familiar silhouette sitting on the rooftop of one of the nearby watchtowers.

"Hey!" Sabo greeted once he scaled the tower. "What are you doing up here, Dragon-san?"

The older man was still wearing the green raincoat he had donned over his clothes, though the hood had been pulled back, leaving his tattooed face visible under the faint light of the moon. Once Sabo stood next to him, Dragon glanced up at his second-in-command and offered him a toothy smile.

"I was merely observing the town. I haven't been here in many years."

"Oh? When was the last time you were here?" Sabo asked, shifting his gaze to the view in front of them, as if by doing so he, too, would be able to see the change the town had gone through since Dragon's last visit.

"It's been twenty-two years now… I was here, the day of the execution," Dragon revealed.

Sabo's eyebrows rose briefly at this information. "Huh. I can't say I'm too surprised about that." Still, the admission caused a familiar itch to tickle his skin. A thousand follow-up questions lingered on the tip of his tongue. Among them was a rising desire to know whether Dragon had known the man personally.

 _What type of man was Gol D. Roger?_ Sabo found himself thinking once more, his heart skipping a beat. He thought about the old man he'd met had said earlier as he slowly sunk beside Dragon, his knees bent in front of him as his feet carefully found purchase among the roof's damp tiles. It was from this angle that he noticed there was something in Dragon's hands.

"What's that? A map?" Sabo inquired, momentarily distracted.

"A gift." Dragon's thumb ran down the stretch of the rolled-up paper. Sabo was left to wonder whether Dragon had received a gift or whether he was planning to give one away. He peered at the other's face for answers and found himself with far more questions instead. There was a rare expression on their leader's face. The look in his eyes as he gazed at the map was as soft as his smile, though there was a worried crease in his forehead that Sabo had only seen when Dragon was making truly difficult decisions.

"Who…"

The word lingered in the air between them but Dragon said nothing to fill the silence. His smile merely widened for a moment, and in the next, he was tucking the map away and bringing out a pair of keys from within his cloak, which he offered to Sabo.

"Sabo… Why did you decide to come here? Have you figured it out?"

The blond felt a little thrown by the change of subject. His fingers closed around the keys as he thought about the question that had been plaguing him since this trip began. He was still no closer to figuring it out.

"Not really," he said finally, letting the shadow of his hood hide his eyes as he smiled wryly at his own words. "I guess I was just… curious," he shrugged, "I wanted to find out more, about this place. About… Roger."

"Roger?" Dragon said, surprise clear in his voice.

"Yeah." Sabo licked his lips. He couldn't deny that he held an interest in learning more about the Pirate King.

"I think… I wanted to be a pirate once, you know?" he said in a quiet voice, smiling still. He closed his eyes as he let the faint memory of sailing out on a small fishing boat drift into the forefront of his mind. There was so little that he remembered of his past, and of what he did, there was even less that he liked to remember, less acknowledge. But his love for the sea, his desire for a life of freedom, was something that had remained with him all this time.

He supposed that was why he felt this nudging curiosity to find out more about the Pirate King.

"It's weird, actually. It's not like I still want to be one anymore. I know where I belong, and being with you guys, fighting against the World Government, is what feels right. But I guess… I guess I still miss it…" he said with a strange longing in his voice that made his throat close up. His fingers tightened around the keys in his hands, and the metal teeth dug into the fabric of his gloves.

"Even though... I'm not even sure what it is that I miss exactly."

It was hard to say those words out loud. Sabo's smile faded.

 _Don't think about it,_ he told himself. _Don't think about it._

He swallowed, trying to keep his feelings at bay, but it was getting harder and harder to deny the fact that there was something about this entire trip that made him feel wrongfooted. Why had he really come here? What had drawn him here? He didn't know, but despite trying to act like his usual self, he could not ignore the growing ache inside of him, the emptiness that yearned to be filled—it was a feeling he had buried so many years ago, a feeling he was afraid of, enough not to want to face it alone. He knew it was why he had asked Koala to come with him, this time. He wondered if Dragon had known that all along.

The man in question had yet to make a comment about Sabo's odd confession, but that didn't surprise him. Dragon had never once pushed him when it came to this type of matters. Sabo had always suspected that the man knew more about Sabo's past than he let on, but Sabo had never wanted to ask, and Dragon had never offered to share. It was an understanding they were both aware of.

Remembering that allowed Sabo to relax a little. He willed himself to take a deep breath and let go of the anxiety that had built up inside of him.

"Dragon-san…" Sabo said after a while. "Why did _you_ decide to come here?" he asked, thinking back on the map the man was carrying. He peered at the other out of the corner of his eyes, wondering if he would get an answer this time. He watched, a little fascinated, as Dragon's expression softened again.

"I came to see someone I haven't seen in many years," the older man said, glancing up at the glittering stars that stretched across their heads. "I hope we'll be able to meet tomorrow, but..." Dragon's smile turned wry. "If not, well, perhaps we weren't meant to meet just yet."

Despite the acceptance in his words, Sabo thought he could hear a tinge of regret behind that steady voice. What type of person could cause that reaction in their taciturn leader? An old friend? A lover?

"Who is it? Someone from the Revolutionary Army?"

"No. But I have a feeling he'll be a great ally to us in the future..." Dragon said with a loud chuckle.

The warmth in his mentor's voice caused Sabo to smile. He leaned forward a little and placed his weight on his knees as he rested his arms on top of them, deciding not to press the other anymore. A comfortable silence fell between them and Sabo closed his eyes again, trying not to focus on the persisting ache curled inside his chest. He focused instead on Dragon's reassuring presence at his side, on the sounds of life that spread across the town. There was a mother on the house below tucking her daughter into bed. A few streets down, a crowd of patrons entered a lively pub and the roaring laughter of those already inside escaped through the open doors. Sabo allowed his senses to stretch further, filling himself with information if nothing else; the buzz of fluttering wings was being drowned out by crickets chirping loudly in the distance, and they, in turn, were drowned out by the soothing rhythm of the waves crashing against the shore. Something about that made his smile stretch, made the ache lessen slightly.

Sabo wasn't sure how long he sat there, just listening, but eventually, he felt himself jolted out of his trance as Dragon's hand pressed heavily into his shoulder.

"Let's go."

As they climbed down, Sabo became aware that the presence he had sensed earlier, the lone figure leaning against a house not too far from where they were, was none other than Koala's. How long had she been there? Long enough, Sabo hazard to guess, if she hadn't come up and joined them.

He decided not to say anything about it. Instead, he allowed himself to fall back into his usual routine as they met up with Koala, who did the same and unconvincingly tried to pretend she had been looking for them this entire time.

* * *

The next morning, Sabo woke up feeling like he had barely gotten any sleep. He dragged himself out of bed with a groan, sluggishly planting each foot on the floor. Dragon wasn't in the room anymore... Sabo absently scratched the bare, scarred skin on the side of his stomach, wondering where he had gone. Perhaps the mystery person he'd been waiting for had finally arrived?

A yawn escaped his lips. Sabo's eyelids felt heavy with sleep, but the faint _purupurupurupuru_ coming from the pile of clothing folded neatly on a nearby chair encouraged him to get ready for the day.

After taking a long, hot shower, the blond got dressed into yesterday's clothes, ditching the raincoat for his usual black coat and donning his much-missed hat. The baby den den mushi was no longer ringing. Sabo, not wanting to face Koala's wrath this early in the morning, decided not to call her back and went down to turn in the room's key, before heading out to eat breakfast.

The streets were much more packed today than they had been yesterday. Sabo easily blended in among the wide variety of tourists and well-disguised pirates as he wandered around looking for a good place to eat. Eventually, he entered a nearby bakery and limited himself to ordering no more than six croissants, a small spinach quiche, and a drink, remembering the poor state of his wallet.

" _Sabo… Why did you decide to come here?"_

Sabo took a slow bite out of his cheese-filled croissant and then swallowed the rest whole, before reaching for another. He still couldn't get that stupid question out of his mind. The hollow answer he had given Dragon had kept him up for most of the night. It bothered him. Sabo knew he was impulsive, that he followed his instincts more than his head a good half of the time, but even with the blanks in his memory, he thought he knew himself well enough to reason out his actions.

 _Roger, huh…?_ Sabo wondered if perhaps there was a connection between him and the Pirate King, something more than a vague sense of kinship for the freest man to have ever sailed the seas.

 _There's no way… Is there?_

He had always said, to others when asked, to himself when he thought about it, that he had made peace with his past, but a small part of him couldn't help but to admit that rather than accepting the loss, he had only been running away from it all this time.

 _Just what is this feeling…? Why is this place… making me feel this way?_

He let out a frustrated sigh. The half-eaten quiche in front of him was beginning to look unappetizing… Sabo stared at it for several minutes, not really moving. It was hard to focus on anything when his mind kept going in circles, just like it had all night.

 _What should I do about this?_ He let out a stressed sigh as he considered his options.

A) He could go back to the inn and sleep the day away, though he doubted he would get much rest.

B) He could go find Koala and let her distract him until it was time to leave, but there was a chance that she would call him out on what he was doing. The idea of carrying her shopping bags all day wasn't particularly appealing either.

C) He could go look for Dragon and find out who the person he was meeting was. It was a pretty good option, and he knew Dragon wouldn't judge him for it. But...

Sabo already knew which option he was going to take. Even if he had never taken a particular interest in remembering his past before, he couldn't deny that there was a nagging itch impulsing him to find out more. Plus, running away at this point, when there was an answer so clearly nearby, left a bad taste in his mouth.

It was that last thought that settled it for him. Sabo dipped his last croissant into the hot chocolate he had ordered and ate it in a single bite, licking the dripping liquid off of his fingers. He was up on his feet in the next moment, purpose in his every step as he headed out the door. He knew exactly where he wanted to start.

* * *

"Ah…" Sabo said aloud only a few minutes later. "But which way should I go?"

The blond rubbed the back of his neck and looked around to see if there was a sign that would lead him in the correct direction. The number of people outside seemed to have multiplied while he had been eating. He waded through the crowd carefully, keeping his eyes as well as his ears open. He tried to pick up the strands of conversation around him in hopes that it would point him in the right way.

Somehow, he ended up in the marketplace instead.

 _Ah well, maybe I'll run into Koala after all._ The blond looked around to see if he could spot her. The variety of shops in this town was really impressive. He peered through display windows as he walked past various boutiques, weapon shops, and supply stores. A store selling Log Poses caught his eye for a moment, mainly because the shopkeeper was bowing repeatedly to a group of suspicious-looking people as they walked away.

"Thank you! Thank you very much for your generosity, sirs!"

Sabo grimaced at the scene. He immediately thought back on the old man he had met yesterday.

" _Once money comes into the picture, everyone quickly forgets the fact that they're consorting with criminals."_

 _The old man was right,_ Sabo noted, unsurprised. Save for the rowdy group that had been caught by the marines yesterday, no one seemed to bat an eye at the kind of people they were dealing with. At least, not until their backs were turned, the blond noted as he watched the shopkeeper's face briefly twist with contempt.

He shook his head and continued on his way, ignoring the dark emotion that sunk in the pit of his stomach. Though he did feel tempted to linger around here and gather information, Sabo had a goal to fulfill first. Something told him that the answer he'd been looking for would be in _that_ place _._ A sense of urgency rose inside of him as he tried to get back to the crossroads.

Thankfully, this being a tourist town, it wasn't hard to get back in the right track. If the signs at the crossroads weren't clear enough, the increasing number of marines he kept spotting were enough to give it away. Sabo felt his heart skip a beat as he headed down to the town square. The sound resounded within him, throbbing loudly in his chest.

He picked up his pace, only briefly reminding himself not to draw too much attention to himself. But when he spotted that towering structure in the far off distance, his heartbeat raced even more. He was soon pushing his way through the crowd. His skin thrummed with energy. _This is it_ , he thought. _This is it..._

And then he was there. The stand where Gol D. Roger had been executed towered in front of him. For a moment, Sabo felt the entire world fade away as he stared at the tall structure with bated breath. He waited, and waited, and waited…

But nothing happened. Whatever revelation he had been hoping for never came. His stomach sunk in disappointment. The nagging ache he'd been trying so hard to soothe stung like a slap to the face.

"Why…" Sabo whispered, brow furrowed, fists clenched at his sides. He stared up at the stand, trying to make sense of the weight of emotion that threatened to swallow him. He'd been so sure this place would do something, trigger a memory, give him a clue… but he was no more enlightened than he had been the day he had woken up from his accident all those years ago. He was just as empty, just as lost, perhaps even worse considering the crushing disappointment weighing him down.

 _Purupurupurupuru_

 _Purupurupurupuru_

 _Purupurupurupuru_

Sabo tore his eyes away from the platform and pulled out the baby den den mushi tucked away in his pocket with heavy limbs. He stared at the noisy snail for a moment before remembering he was supposed to answer it.

 _Clank._

"Hello?"

"Hello? Sabo-kun? Geez, finally! I've been trying to reach you all day," Koala snapped irritatedly. "Where are you?"

"Sorry, I went out for a walk. Where are you?"

"On your own? Just why did you make me tag along anyway?" The den den mushi's eyes glared up at him fiercely. Sabo stared back at those eyes and faintly wondered what kind of expression Koala was seeing right now. "We should meet up," she said. "Where do you think? I'm heading back to town from the port side. I went out for a swim this morn—"

"Gotcha. I'll see you in a bit then."

Sabo hung up. He quickly turned on his heel, willing himself not to look behind him. The heavy presence of the platform seemed to bear down on him and each step he took felt like a failure on his part. He wasn't even sure why. He had come all the way here, hadn't he? Rather than staying away in fear of what he would find... And yet...

 _This is… so stupid..._

 _Why am I so disappointed?_

 _Just what is it that I was hoping to discover?!_

His heart was still thundering wildly and there was a stinging pain throbbing between his eyes. Sabo let out a loud breath through his teeth. He could feel an ugly well of anger and frustration rising inside of him and he knew he need to calm down before Koala saw him like this. He slowed down and took another deep breath. He needed— _to get away, to leave, to have_ _ **answers**_ _ **—**_

"It seems like that monster isn't with you today!"

Sabo's head snapped up. His hand was reaching for the pipe that hung on his back before he even registered the pair of voices speaking.

"It's all because of you that our boss is in jail!"

"If you still haven't learned your lesson, I shall gladly be your opponent."

The last one to speak was the woman he had seen at the bar yesterday. In front of her were two of the men that had been with the jerk that had shown up when they had been eating dinner. Sabo was surprised they had managed to escape the marines.

"Did I just hear that correctly!? A little miss like you is going to be our opponent!?"

Sabo's eyes narrowed as he watched the scene. He was in a pretty foul mood and wouldn't mind getting in a fight with someone to let out some steam. But he wasn't sure whether he should intervene. That woman was most likely a marine, even if she lacked the uniform for it, and she certainly seemed capable, but...

"Saa…booo…-kun...!"

The decision was made for him as Koala appeared within sight with fury written all over her face. Sabo immediately tried to retreat, but Koala was quick. She caught up to him in seconds and snagged him by the ear.

"You! Quit hanging up when I'm still speaking!"

Sabo winced as Koala dragged him off without lessening her grip. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the short-haired woman skillfully taking care of those two guys.

"Come on," Koala demanded, drawing his attention back to her. After a few more seconds of torture, she finally let go.

"Ouch," Sabo grumbled. He eyed her warily. "...Where are we going?"

"Just follow me and be quiet."

The blond did as ordered, walking mutely at her side as he carefully rubbed his stinging ear. He recognized the area they were heading towards. Was she taking him back to the inn?

"Sit." Koala pointed at a nearby bench. The dark look in her eyes brokered no argument. Sabo sat down and watched, bemused, as Koala disappeared for a few minutes before returning with a white plastic bag hanging from her fingers.

"What's this?" he asked blankly.

"What does it look like?" Koala pushed the bag into his arms and sat down next to him, crossing her legs. "Don't think I'm going to make a habit of this," she warned him. "It's only just this once!"

Sabo looked down at the bag in his lap. There was a pile of freshly baked pretzels inside. _Oh_ , he thought. "...Thanks."

The blond reached for one of the pretzels without taking off his gloves, but he couldn't find it in himself to bring it up to his mouth. He stared at it for a long minute.

A worried noise caught on Koala's throat. "Sabo-kun... what's wrong?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"...I don't know," he whispered in reply.

Sabo put the pretzel down. He swallowed dryly and let his eyes fall shut. Now that he was sitting down, everything hit him at once for the second time that day. The exhaustion that he had carried with him since he had woken up, the mix of anxiety and anger that had curled up in his stomach, the persisting headache throbbing at his temples… It all became too much. He felt drained. Worse still, he felt like a stranger in his own body. Never in all of these years had he felt so conflicted as he had the past couple of days. He hated it. He...

Koala was saying something in that same gentle tone, but it wasn't registering.

"Hey, are you listening?"

"I'm listening," Sabo replied automatically, tugging his hat down.

"Liar." Koala sighed, not sounding angry at all. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," she reminded him.

"I told you, I don't really get it myself. I'm just…" He pressed his hand against his forehead. "I just want to go back home…"

Home. Baltigo.

Sabo thought of the white plains that stretched across the island where he had grown up on for the past ten years. Koala, Dragon-san, Hack, Kuma-san… The friends he had made all of these years, he wanted to go back to them. He yearned to get far away from _here_ , from this place that made him feel like there was something inside of him—something important—that was missing.

 _So what if I'm running away?_ he thought bitterly, scorning his earlier determination. _I'm fine with that. I've_ _ **been**_ _fine with that. I'm not the one who can't_ _—_

"Quit that." Koala placed a hand on his forearm and gripped onto it until he looked at her. "Stop spacing out and tell me what's on your mind."

Sabo remained silent, unsure of what to say. His face was unreadable. How could he explain if he didn't even understand what he was feeling? Back when they were younger and still trying to find themselves, he'd once told her — _"eh, who cares about all of that anyway?"_ _—_ that the past didn't matter. How could he tell her that he felt a desperation to connect with it now?

"We should… try to find Dragon-san…"

"Sabo-kun…"

Sabo carefully avoided looking at Koala, keeping his expression blank. Her grip on his arm tightened, but she relented after letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Fine." Koala reached for the bag on his lap and got up, dragging him along with a hard tug before letting go, trusting him to walk on his own. Sabo would have felt relieved that she had backed off if he wasn't trying to keep himself from feeling anything. The two barely moved before they noticed something was wrong.

"Oh! Well, that doesn't look good," Koala said as a large group of marines rushed through the area. They were carrying weapons and rushing in the direction of the town square. "I wonder what's going on..."

"I'm not sure… but look." Sabo pointed up to the sky. There were dark clouds gathering above them. A storm was coming, and the suddenness of it could only mean one thing.

"You think they're after Dragon-san?" Koala asked, concerned. Sabo frowned grimly.

"Only one way to find out."

They followed the marines at a discreet distance, keeping their eyes peeled for trouble.

"I should've given him a den den mushi too," Koala muttered under her breath.

"I don't think he would've answered even if you had…"

"You would know!" Koala snapped, growling. Sabo wisely said nothing in return.

 _We're heading back to the gallows,_ he thought with a grimace, distinctively uncomfortable by this fact. His entire body was tensed up. He wasn't exactly eager to head back there so soon, but he couldn't allow himself to falter now. _Now's not the time to worry about that,_ he reminded himself firmly. _We've got to find Dragon-san!_

There were a lot more people in the town square than there had been before. From this distance, Sabo was able to spot the group of pirates that had taken over the area. There seemed to be around twenty of them. Whether they worked under the same Captain or not remained to be seen. Dragon, thankfully, did not appear to be involved in whatever was going on up ahead, though Sabo was sure that wouldn't last long.

The marines they had been following ducked into a nearby building.

 _They're not attacking yet?_ Sabo shared a confused glance with Koala. They silently debated whether to follow the marines or proceed ahead when a loud voice rang across the area.

" _ **I AM THE MAN WHO WILL BECOME THE PIRATE KING!"**_

Sabo's head snapped up. _Who...?_

" _I'm_ _—_ _"_

An image flickered across his vision, the face of a young boy.

"— _g_ _onna be_ _—_ _"_

 _...That's..._

Sabo's eyes zeroed in on the execution stand. There was someone standing at the top. Two someones. He couldn't see who they were from this far away yet but his body automatically continued forward, pushing past the sea of people in front of him.

"Hey, wait up!"

Koala's voice sounded faint in his ears. There were too many people talking around him, reacting to those confident, promising words.

 _Thump-thump._

The noise surrounding him felt so far away. People were yelling in panic, shouting threats at each other, laughing tauntingly, but Sabo wasn't registering those voices at all. It was as if every sensation was slowly becoming muted. A man roughly pushed past him; Sabo didn't even sense him approaching. He caught a flash of bright green as he stumbled, but his gaze was still firmly on the scene before him. A hand reached out to steady him. Koala.

"Wait, isn't that… the kid that beat up Arlong?" she whispered.

It was. The straw hat was unmistakable.

 _Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

"He's gonna be killed!"

Just like before, the entire world disappeared until it was just him and the execution stand. Just him and…

The image flickered across his mind again. A young boy, two of them, standing at the edge of a cliff, staring at the endless expanse of the ocean.

" _ **I'm gonna be the Pirate King!**_ _"_ the young boy declared at the top of his lungs.

Sabo stared wide-eyed as that same kid— _the same kid, he knew this kid, it was_ _—_ yelled at the top of his lungs.

"ZORO! SANJI! USOPP! NAMI!"

Noise rushed back in his ears as Sabo watched, transfixed, as the man standing on the platform raised his sword. The kid's lips stretched into a wide, fearless grin, the gaze in his eyes steady before it was hidden beneath his eyelids. Sabo's breath caught. His vision blurred.

"Sorry, guys. It looks like I'm dead."

Horror filled him as he watched, paralyzed, as the sword swung down mercilessly.

 _No…_

 _No...!_

" _ **LUFFY!**_ " he bellowed, slamming his eyes shut, shaking, unable to watch, to breathe, to process what was happening.

 _...That's…_

" _I'm begging you… they mean more to me than anything… they're_ _—_ _"_

Sabo could see their faces clearly now, could hear them yelling his name, crying.

" _They're my precious brothers!"_

 _No…!_

There was a deafening sound that resounded across the town square. To Sabo, it sounded like his heart shattering into pieces. His knees felt weak. His head was pounding, throbbing in realization and denial. The world began to tilt as his mind was bombarded by a series of images.

" _Who the hell are you?"_

" _I'm Sabo. What's your name?"_

" _Ace."_

 _"Huh… So is this that Luffy guy you told me about?"_

" _Are you Ace's friend? Be my friend too!"_

" _We have to make it out to sea someday! We'll leave this country behind and gain our freedom!"_

" _Hey… did you guys know? If you exchange drinks_ _—_ _"_

"— _starting today, we are...!"_

"My brothers…" Sabo whispered.

As the last of his consciousness faded, there was only one remaining thought in his head.

 _ **How could I have forgotten?**_

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "Reconnecting" Sabo struggles to wrap his head around what he has discovered. Meanwhile, Dragon reconnects with a certain someone from his past and Koala's patience is tested.


	5. Chapter 5: Reconnecting

It's been such a long week...! But your reviews have kept me going! Thank you all for your kind comments! I am happy to see you guys enjoying this story. Writing Sabo is a joy, even though I love to cause him pain, haha.

This chapter was really fun to write! Please let me know what you think!

* * *

 ** _Chapter Five: Reconnecting_**

* * *

Sabo remembered writing a letter.

The exact wording of it eluded him now, but he remembered the feeling behind it as he wrote it. It had been important to let his brothers know that he was going on ahead, that he was sorry he was leaving them behind. That he was worried about them, but that he had faith that they would meet again one day.

He remembered, most of all, telling his brothers that they bond they had was his greatest treasure.

It was that memory that burned him most of all right now. A chasm of guilt ate him inside out, little by little, at the realization that he had forgotten all of that for ten long years. He had forgotten his precious brothers—the two people that he had done his best to protect, that he could not bear to lose—and carried on with his life as if they had never mattered to him.

Ace was never going to forgive him. Even if he did, Sabo couldn't help but to ache at the thought of his brother, already so unsure of his place in this world, knowing that Sabo had forgotten him.

And Luffy—

The faint sound of Luffy's infectious laughter tickled at the edge of his memories. Sabo could picture his blinding grin of admiration so perfectly, could see—

The sword coming down to chop off his little brother's head—

Sabo's eyes flew open as he let out a rattling gasp. His first thought was the firm conviction that: _Luffy is alive._

He had to be. Sabo had to believe that. In those last moments of consciousness, Luffy had been… he had still been alive. Sabo remembered, among the spiraling memories that had overwhelmed him at the time, sensing that bright thread of life burning brightly still as he blacked out.

 _But what happened after that?_

Sabo took in a shaky breath and stared blankly at the ceiling above him as he tried to orient himself. The patterns on the wood reminded him of the hideout they had made when they were kids, though it wasn't in the right color...

 _Wait, wood…?_

The rest of Sabo's brain finally registered that he was not, in fact, alone.

"Saboooo…!"

There was a familiar voice weeping into his upper arm. Thin fingers were clutching onto his sleeve tightly.

"You're awake," Koala blubbered, nearly incomprehensible, her voice shaky with relief. "Oh thank god, I thought… I thought you were dying…!" she sniffled and let out another small choked noise.

Sabo blinked and slowly pushed himself up. He was still thinking of the haunting sight of the execution stand.

"What happened?"

Koala took a deep breath and began explaining as she wiped away her tears. "You—you just… collapsed. It was really scary and you've had a really bad fever and—"

"No," Sabo interrupted. He grasped Koala's hand, tugging it away from her face so he could look her in the eye. "What happened to him? What happened to Luffy? Is he okay?" he asked in an urgent, hushed voice.

"That kid?" Koala's lips trembled slightly as she looked at Sabo. She stared at him with glassy eyes, her body tense. When she replied, it was with a tiny voice. "He's fine. He managed to get away. But Sabo-kun, why…"

Sabo closed his eyes in sheer relief. His grip on Koala's hand loosened.

 _He's okay…_ The worry that had weighed him down vanished, making him slump into himself.

"What's going on?" Koala asked hesitantly.

Sabo didn't answer at first. The truth was so overwhelming, so simple, so unbelievable. It was hard to form the words.

"Sabo-kun…?"

Sabo looked at Koala. A helpless smile appeared on his lips. "I… I _remember_ ," he said wondrously. It felt so surreal to admit it.

Koala seemed to understand what he meant. In fact, she didn't seem too surprised. "So it's true…" She looked down and stared at their joined hands. Her fingers twitched slightly, but she didn't pull away. "Then that means, is that kid… your brother?"

Sabo stared at her. He must have said something before passing out.

"Yeah."

 _He's my baby brother. The one I was supposed to look out for. The one who've I've abandoned for ten whole years. Whom I almost saw die right in front of me because I couldn't remember him._

Sabo's gaze darkened with self-loathing, before it was overshadowed by a steely glint of determination. He pulled away from Koala and threw his covers back.

"I need to talk to Dragon-san. Where is he? Where are we?"

"He's… We stole one of the marine ships yesterday. You wouldn't wake up so Dragon-san decided to take us to see a doctor friend of his to check what was wrong with you."

Sabo rose from the bed, stumbling only for a brief second. His eyes quickly sought out his clothes. He was only wearing a white button-up shirt and a pair of boxers. "How long have I been unconscious?" he asked as he quickly got dressed into his usual outfit.

"Three days," Koala answered immediately. She averted her gaze for several seconds, out of politeness more than embarrassment, before her worry got the best of her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. "Should you be getting out of bed?"

"I'm fine," Sabo said dismissively as he tightened his cravat neatly over his shirt.

"You've been sleeping for three days!"

"Don't be such a nag, Koala."

"You—!"

Koala turned her head to glare at him, but the blond was already hurrying out of the room. She jumped to her feet and followed, growling under her breath.

Dragon was at the bow of the ship, leaning over the railings when they found him. He turned around as they approached him. Sabo stopped a few feet away, hesitance halting his movements now that he was in front of their leader. Koala stopped a few feet behind him. Her ire faded as she stared at Sabo's back with a worried frown.

"You're awake," Dragon said with a small grin that Sabo couldn't help but to match, albeit weakly. "How are you feeling?"

"Dragon-san… I..." Sabo's fists clenched at his sides. "There is something I need to ask of you," he said formally, bending at the waist. When he rose, Dragon's demeanour had grown more serious. He met Sabo's steady gaze and waited for him to speak.

Sabo felt the weight of his words on his tongue. What he was about to ask for was irresponsible. It went against vows that he had made to himself even before he had become the Chief of Staff. But wasn't it more dishonorable of him to neglect the ones he had made first?

Even if it wasn't, Sabo knew he was willing to go against his very self for the sake of his brothers. It was the least he could do for them. He owed them so much more. Plus...

"Sabo-kun… are you going to leave the revolutionaries?"

Sabo whipped around in shock. "Of course not!"

Koala's expression melted with relief. Her hands, curled up against the front of her shirt, lost the tension they had gathered. Sabo's heart clenched. He bowed his head slightly, biting his lip.

"But…" he said, "I was hoping that I could take some time off."

He turned back to look at Dragon, forcing himself to meet his gaze. He knew it was selfish. For him to abandon their cause like this was unlike him. But there was no other choice. He couldn't go on living like this, with doubts and regrets weighing heavily on his heart.

 _Do they think I abandoned them?_ A more frightening thought then followed. _Have they... forgotten me too?_

Just the thought of not knowing anything at all ate at Sabo. He needed to know. Needed to see them. Needed to _fix_ this.

"Alright."

The easy acquiescence caused Sabo to stare at him in surprise. His jaw hung loose for a second. "Is it really okay?" he blurted out.

A small smirk curled around Dragon's lips. "It seems fate has made its decision and I see no reason to go against it. In fact," he reached into a pocket of his cloak, "if you're going to see him, then please deliver this to him."

"The map?" Sabo stared in confusion at the item Dragon was offering to him, trying to figure out why it was being offered to him. "Wait, you want me to give this to _Luffy_?" he clarified, growing even more confused. He hadn't even explained—and wasn't that map for—

Dragon nodded.

"...Why?"

"I thought he might like it."

Sabo's brow furrowed deeply as he tried to puzzle out the facts before him.

"...Dragon-san," he said slowly. "Do you know Luffy?"

Dragon nodded again. "Of course. He's my son."

Sabo and Koala stayed silent for a long, long moment.

"... _HE'S YOUR WHAT?!_ "

* * *

Sabo hadn't quite yet gotten over the shocking news that Dragon had delivered, but the alarming growl of his stomach impulsed him to let it go for now, so he went to eat and then washed up. By the time he finished, they were almost done sailing through the Calm Belt.

"Where are we going anyway?" he asked once he stepped back into the deck.

Dragon was leaning against the railing again, staring at the ocean with a calm, peaceful expression. Sabo often found him like this on the rare occasions that they sailed together.

"To Twin Cape. If you're lucky, you'll be able to pick up Luffy's trail from there. He might have lingered there after coming down Reverse Mountain."

"You should still get checked out by the doctor there," Koala mentioned, looking up from the military documents she had gathered from the vessel. She pursed her lips as she gave Sabo another worried onceover. "I know it was mostly the shock, but you really did have a terrible fever. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Sabo shrugged in response, not particularly concerned now that he had made up for the several meals he had missed. "I'm fine. More importantly, why exactly are we in a marine vessel anyway? And wouldn't it have been faster to just..." He waved a hand towards Dragon wordlessly. Koala let out a small huff.

"I thought it would be a bad idea for Dragon-san to carry you in _the condition you were in_ ," she said pointedly. "Plus, it was easy getting the ship. The Marine Captain that was in town ended up taking off in pursuit of your brother."

"Oh?"

Sabo couldn't say that he was too surprised to hear that. He wondered what Luffy had done to earn that kind of attention.

 _As if getting nearly executed wasn't enough. Geez, you're always so reckless_.

It was strange to experience this kind of certainty when everything was still so muddled in his head. The memory of Luffy being swallowed by a crocodile flashed briefly through his mind, followed by one of him slipping from the branch of a tall tree, and another of him nearly falling off a bridge. His little brother really was a trouble magnet. If he didn't have Sabo and Ace looking out for him, he'd…

The fond smile that had been stretching across the blond's face quickly faded.

 _Ace…_

Sabo tried really hard not to think about Ace.

When they arrived at Twin Cape a couple of hours later, they were met with a rather strange sight. Dragon chuckled loudly, and Sabo soon followed his example, beaming warmly as they caught a glimpse of the distinguishing mark that had been poorly painted on the scarred head of a giant whale.

"Is that supposed to be a jolly roger?" Koala asked dubiously, squinting as she peered up at the colorful mark.

"Luffy's never been good at drawing," Sabo informed her, pride filling his voice as that odd sense of certainty returned.

None of them were particularly concerned that they were docking the ship near the giant whale. The animal didn't seem threatening despite its size and it certainly wasn't sparing them an ounce of its attention to warrant any sort of worry. In fact, it was only once they were climbing up the ladder that led to top of the cliff that the whale let out a loud wail that vibrated through the air. Upon reaching the top of the cliff, they spotted what had incurred the noise. There was an old man, with what seemed to be a flower sticking out of the back of his head, exiting the lone house that was next to the lighthouse. He was slowly making his way to the colorful beach chair at the edge of the cliff with a pair of newspapers tucked under his arm, but he stopped midway as he turned to look at them. His brow furrowed deeply for several long seconds as he eyed Koala, Sabo, and…

"Crocus," Dragon greeted with a nod.

"Dragon," Crocus greeted back, equally as somber.

Despite giving them a lingering stink eye, the old man went on his way and settled down on the chair without saying another word. He opened up one of the newspapers he had with him and the whale immediately drifted closer. It let out an excited sounding squeak.

"Err…" Koala said as she stared at the man, bemused. She glanced at Dragon to see how they should proceed, only to realize the man was no longer standing behind them. Instead, he was settling down next to the old man, reaching into his coat. He brought out a bottle of sake along with a pair of cups and set them on the ground.

Koala gaped. _When did he…?_

Sabo was more concerned about where the bottle had come from. _There was alcohol on the ship?_ He hadn't seen any when he had been raiding the kitchen.

The whale let out another noise, this time impatient.

"Pipe down already, Laboon. I'm getting there," Crocus grumbled as he sifted through the newspaper.

"He's gotten even bigger," Dragon commented as he poured out the drinks.

"Hmph, I'm surprised you can tell." Crocus absentmindedly accepted the cup Dragon offered to him and immediately downed the liquid. Once it was empty, he stared at the cup considerably for several moments before looking at Dragon straight in the eye, frowning.

Koala and Sabo tensed slightly as they felt the air around them drop in temperature.

Then—

"That's pretty good stuff, for marine goods anyway," Crocus said grudgingly.

"Hmm. I agree."

The smile on Dragon's face made his subordinates relax; at least, until Crocus' eyes narrowed again. He was now staring at Dragon with suspicion. "What are you doing here anyway?" he demanded in a tone that no one could exactly call friendly. Sabo and Koala began to drift closer, unsure of what to make of the uneasy atmosphere. Dragon, on the other hand, merely refilled their cups.

"Well…"

"It's rare to see you in these parts of the waters," Crocus continued, cutting off Dragon's response. "And don't think I didn't notice the ship you brought. You better not be here to cause trouble," he warned gravelly. "I'm retired."

Dragon grinned widely, undaunted. "We won't linger for long," he promised. "We only stopped by because Sabo here was feeling under the weather, but he's fine now. I do have something else to ask you about though, now that we're here."

Crocus snorted. "Of course. Well, you're free to ask me anything, but that doesn't mean I'll give you an answer."

He turned his attention back to the newspaper. Sabo noticed with interest that he was reading through the section of claimed bounties. Arlong's face stood out amongst many others. The sight of it caught the blond's interest and impatience won out against his good manners.

"I was wondering if you could tell us about the pirates who left that mark behind," he cut in, drawing even closer until he was right behind the two.

Crocus slowly craned his neck and stared at him with the same intensity he had directed at Dragon. Sabo matched his unrelenting gaze, not neither wilting nor budging under the pressure. Behind him, Koala shifted nervously.

"Sabo-kun," she hissed. She came closer and jabbed the blond with her elbow before bowing apologetically to the old man. "Please excuse him, sir. Let me expla—"

"And just what exactly are you planning to do with that information?" Crocus said.

"Follow them," Sabo replied simply. Crocus' eyebrow rose, unimpressed. Koala, on the other hand, gritted her teeth at the interruption.

"And then?" the old man drawled, unsurprisingly not satisfied by that response.

This time, Sabo's expression turned a little wistful. "Well, you see, the captain's actually my—"

"It's a small crew, only five people and that's including the captain. They're sailing on a caravel—"

"JUST LIKE THAT!?" Koala's eyebrow twitched in irritation as she stared at the old man. "You didn't even let him finish! And aren't you even going to ask him why he wants to follow them?!"

Crocus waved a hand in the air dismissively. "You planning to hurt those kids?"

"Of course not!" Koala snapped.

Crocus nodded in satisfaction and gulped down another cup of sake. Sabo, taking his cue, got right to business.

"How long ago did they leave?" He leaned in eagerly, not wanting to waste any more time. "Do you know where they went? Which path they took?" he tacked on, praying that his luck would hold true. There were so many paths one could take from here, and only a small chance of following the one his brother had chosen. But if he could at least narrow some options down…

"Sure. They went to Whiskey Peak. Must've left about two days ago, I suppose. They lingered here for a while."

Sabo blinked. "Seriously?"

"They had some business to take care of there," Crocus explained.

Sabo's heart thudded as excitement and relief warred inside of him. He turned towards Koala immediately. She, of course, already knew what he was thinking.

"Well I do have an eternal log pose for that…" she confirmed, absently patting the pouch that rested at her hip. A grimace crossed her lips, and this time it was Sabo who read her mind. He shared her grimace as the two turned to look at Dragon.

"Hmm? You two want a lift?"

Koala's shoulders slumped at the question and she let out a harried sigh. "It would be faster," she admitted reluctantly. "But… is the storm really necessary?" she complained, already resigned.

Dragon calmly poured out another cup and offered them a grin. "No, but the lack of visibility helps keep our cover."

A light breeze blew by as the two revolutionary members took in that explanation.

"Sabo-kun?" Koala said calmly, not looking at their leader. A vein of anger pulsed at her forehead.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to need to borrow your pipe."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "Whiskey Peak" Sabo reminisces on his past, but as he gets closer to Luffy, he finds himself growing concerned for his little brother's safety


	6. Chapter 6: Whiskey Peak

Good evening and welcome back! I can't believe that it's only been a little over a month and already this story is almost at a hundred favorites and already way over a hundred alerts! Thank you to everyone who has been sticking around and for all your kind words, your excitement is definitely keeping mine going. I look forward to updating a new chapter every time because of you guys.

Fun tibit, I wrote the majority of this story up to this point all within a couple of weeks about a year or two ago. Then I got stuck on chapter seven and never continued until February of this year. The inspiration hit me out of nowhere and I've been working nonstop since then to get the end goal!

Thank you so much for sticking around so far. This chapter is a bit of an interlude, but from the next chapter on, it's going to get really interesting! Let me know what you think!

* * *

 ** _Chapter Six: Whiskey Peak_**

* * *

In the end, they decided to take the ship after all. A small argument had broken out following Dragon's revelation, but Crocus, who hadn't wanted them to abandon the marine vessel and leave him to deal with the marines when they came looking for it, ended the discussion by kindly kicking them back towards their ship and telling them to take a hike already.

Sabo felt a little regretful that they hadn't been able to stick around for longer. He still had plenty of questions regarding Luffy and his crew. There was so much that he had to catch up on. He was torn between wanting to drink in every bit of knowledge that he could gather and hurrying off to go see his little brother with his own eyes.

The journey towards Whiskey Peak, however, was no easy feat with a crew of two.

"Maybe… we should've… gone with him… after all…" Koala panted once the rain of boulder-sized hail had receded. The red-haired woman was leaning against the ship's mast in exhaustion.

Sabo wiped a few droplets of water from his forehead with the back of his arm. He, too, joined Koala in her rest, resisting the urge to simply lay down flat on the deck. "The ship… will come in handy," he said, trying to convince himself.

Koala snorted at his words and Sabo cracked a smile, knowing she was right. There was nothing that came in handy when sailing the Grand Line. It took sheer skill and a good heaping of luck. "Well, I'm not sure he wanted to come with us anyway," he said instead. At that, Koala hummed in agreement.

"Dragon-san is surprisingly shy, isn't he?" she said with a sly grin.

Sabo supposed she was right, though he had mixed feelings about that. He was still struggling to process the fact that Dragon was Luffy's father. It wasn't the lack of physical resemblance that fazed him. It was the fact that he knew what kind of person Dragon was, knew the good in him, both as a mentor and a leader. And now, he knew too that Luffy had grown up without knowing this man at all. How in the world had Luffy ended up in Dawn Island, and why?

That question alone brought on a thousand more. Had Dragon known Luffy had been there when he rescued Sabo? Had he checked in on him if he had? A part of Sabo regretted not asking Dragon any of this when he had been around, but he wasn't sure if the answers he sought would have given him any further peace of mind.

 _I'm not being very fair, am I?_ Sabo thought with a wry smirk. He thought back on the way Dragon had acted in Loguetown. Wasn't that proof enough that he cared? Anyone who went out of their way to protect Sabo's little brother was in his good books. In all honesty, he knew a part of his doubts were being caused by a longing to change the past. If Dragon had rescued Luffy and Ace alongside him… They could've all…

 _There's no use in thinking about that,_ Sabo told himself as firmly as he could. Still, it was hard not to wonder about how many things would have changed. Of course, Ace would have probably hated Dragon on sight, out of sheer principle if nothing else, and Luffy...

Sabo wondered if Luffy even knew who Dragon was, if he had found out much like Ace had, or if Garp had learned from his mistakes and kept him oblivious. Either way, no matter how Sabo felt about it, he had a feeling Luffy wouldn't care either way. He was different from Ace, different from Sabo. He had always been the bright light that chased their shadows away, no matter how clumsy and thoughtless his attempts could be.

"You're thinking about them… aren't you?" Koala's quiet voice broke Sabo from his thoughts. He grew aware of the nostalgic smile curving at his lips as well as how long he had fallen silent.

He glanced at Koala, his smile turning sheepish, but her eyes were fixed on the darkening clouds above them. "Yeah," he said, adjusting the brim of his hat. He didn't elaborate further. He wasn't ready to share just yet, not when he was still trying to sort through it all himself.

Koala seemed to understand this as she didn't continue to probe. Instead, she got up to her feet with an exaggerated groan, and moved to steer the ship away from the giant catfish that was emerging from the water.

* * *

Sabo had been looking forward to messing around with the agents of Baroque Works, so when the fog cleared up and the ship sailed right through the river leading into town, he was entirely disappointed by the lack of welcoming that he received.

"What the hell happened here?" he muttered to himself as he looked at the deserted town. There was not a single person along the riverbank, much less within sight. He frowned, and without even waiting for the ship to finish docking, he leapt off from the railing, landed on the island, and stretched the range of his Observation Haki to locate signs of life. There were definitely people around, lots of them, but most were gathered in the mayor's house towards the east, and the rest were huddled away in nearby structures. Sabo walked through the town in silence as he made his way towards that area, taking careful note of all the damage the town had taken since he was last here. There were cracks on many of the walls, holes left by gunfire, and bloodstains scattered across the ground. The scent of gunpowder lingered in the air.

"Must've been some fight…"Sabo smirked a little, wondering what his little brother had gotten into this time.

When he was close enough, Sabo was able to recognize a few familiar presences gathered inside a bar. He approached the place with a grin, his stomach growling in hunger, and casually pushed the door open, walking right in.

"Hey, guys!"

"Who—what's a marine doing here?"

"Wait, isn't that…? Chief Sabo?!"

Sabo looked down at himself and remembered that he was still wearing the marine uniform he had donned just before arriving. His expression grew sheepish but when he opened his mouth to explain, he was quickly cut off by his comrades.

"Quick, someone call Koala-chan!"

"She's not here!"

"Still?!"

"You don't think she—"

"Shh!"

A few revolutionaries threw Sabo nervous looks, but the blond didn't notice. He was distracted by the sudden realization that he left Koala behind on the ship.

 _Oh crap,_ he thought, slapping his palm across his face. Koala was going to be furious.

"Uh, Chief?"

Sabo peered at them all through the gap between his fingers. He managed a smile as he pulled his hand away.

"Don't worry about Koala…" he told everyone, feeling a cool bead of sweat trail down the back of his neck. "I, uh, saw her already."

"You… you did?!" The collective shout of surprise filled the room. There wasn't a single revolutionary who did not melt with relief at his words. Sabo, however, was feeling nothing close to relief.

"She's around…" he said warily before quickly waving a hand in front of him dismissively. "Anyway, anyone here wanna tell me what happened? You guys look awful."

The more injured of the bunch sobered up at the reminder. Max, one of the revolutionaries who was in charge of this location alongside Koala, waved him over towards the bar after setting down a meal on the counter.

"Yeah… Why don't you sit down, Chief? We've got lots to fill you in on. Yesterday was a hell of a day."

"Oh?"

As tempting as it was to try to avoid Koala for a while longer, Sabo could never resist a hot plate of food. Not to mention, he was eager to find out what the hell had happened here and how Luffy had gotten involved.

"Oh yeah," Max said, sounding utterly exhausted. "Our operation here has been blown to hell. And it all started when this one pirate crew arrived yesterday. We all got our asses handed down to us - the Frontier Agents too! And that was just by one of their guys! It was insane…"

 _I knew it!_ Sabo couldn't hide his grin as he learned over the counter. The plate in front of him went ignored. "Did he have black hair? A scar under his right eye? Was he wearing a straw hat?"

Max's brow furrowed at the rapid-fire questions, or perhaps at Sabo's unusual reaction. "No... the guy had green hair and a bandana. He was also carrying around three swords."

Sabo visibly deflated.

"But I did see the other kid," Max continued, pouring out a glass of red wine for Sabo. "He and that swordsman got into a huge fight. They destroyed half the town just beating each other up."

"Wait, what?"

Sabo's eyes narrowed in thought. He absently picked up a the fork next to his plate and took a few bites of the hastily made fried rice as he thought back on Crocus' description of his brother's crew. _There's no way… He can't be talking about the same guy… can he?_

Max, unaware of Sabo's darkening line of thought, continued on. "But listen Chief, there's something else you need to know. Something big. We found out that Miss Wednesday was actually the princess of Alabasta! And the mayor, Mayor Igarappoi, is actually her steward! I'm not sure what their purpose was in infiltrating Baroque Works, but it seems like the princess was kidnapped by that pirate crew. Or she might have joined forces with them… I'm not really clear on that part still honestly." Max frowned. "And on top of it all, we have been unable to find out who exactly Mr. 0 is…"

As important as this information was, Sabo was currently more concerned over his brother's crew. Just how many green-haired pirates carried around three swords? He swallowed down another mouthful of rice, thinking back at what had nearly happened to Luffy back in Loguetown. Sabo was beginning to feel uneasy about the type of people his brother had watching over his back.

"...suspect he might know more. What do you think, Chief?"

"Tell me more about those pirates. Does anyone know where they were headed? Did their Log Pose set?"

The group of revolutionaries paused as Sabo's serious tone carried across the room. They glanced around amongst themselves, but none of them had a good answer to give the blond. Only a few of them had been conscious during the Straw Hat's escape and none had been close enough to find out the circumstances behind it.

"Well… they should be headed to Little Garden unless they bought an Eternal Pose," Max offered hesitantly.

Sabo frowned. _Luffy, buying something like that?_ "There's no way he'd do that…" he muttered under his breath, knowing instinctively, without the shadow of a doubt, that it was the truth. He looked down at his half-empty plate for several seconds, contemplating his options. The strange silence gave the revolutionaries a mix of confusion and concern. Within the next second, however, Sabo had made his decision. He finished up the last of his plate as quick as lightning and got up to his feet.

"Thanks for the food, Max, but I gotta go."

"Already?" Max's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What about our orders? And don't you wanna interrogate—"

Sabo waved his hand through the air sharply. "It's fine. You're in charge, Max. Don't doubt yourself. And if you do, well, just ask Koala when you see her—"

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, Chief. But just where do you think you're going?"

Sabo's head whipped towards the doorway and he lost a shade of color upon seeing Koala staring at him with her hand on her hip and a thin line on her lips. He was the only one in the room to have that particular reaction.

" _ **Koala-chan! You're safe!"**_

Koala's expression lightened at the reaction. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry for making you worried, guys," she told them. Her eyes drifted back to Sabo and her lips twitched into a smirk.

"Err…" Sabo took a cautious step back.

"Listen up, guys," Koala announced as she stepped inside the room. "New plan. We're heading straight for Alabasta!"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "Halfway Point" Sabo's chase continues, but as he arrives to the next island, an onslaught of memories he's been trying to avoid emerge at an inopportune time.


	7. Chapter 7: Halfway Point

Hi guys! It's that time of the week again :) As usual, thank you for all your reviews! I get so much energy seeing you guys enjoying this! In fact... I am happy to announce that although I had a solid ending in mind for this story... there's now... going to be a sequel! I'm very excited about it. It's going to be very fun, although it will take me some time to get the sequel out in comparison to this one as I'm still plotting the sequel out.

By the way, my feel free to chat me up anytime at rynoa26 on tumblr!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Seven: Halfway Point**_

* * *

"I don't know about this, Koala... "

It was not the first time that Sabo had said these very same words. He and Koala had spent over an hour planning—or rather arguing about—their next move. Sabo still felt uneasy for dragging everyone into his personal affairs, but Koala had done a very good job in pointing out they were all heading in the same direction anyway. Now, they were finally back on the ship, about to embark to their next destination.

It was that part that Sabo was still most unsure about.

"Sabo-kun… Please quit worrying so much. You're not going to lose track of him. I told you, they're definitely heading to Alabasta! And on the chance that they did end up in Little Garden, they won't be leaving the place any time soon. Trust me, we'll get ahead of the game this way."

Sabo bowed his head, the brim of his cap casting a shadow over his expression. It wasn't as if he didn't trust Koala's instincts. He just couldn't help but to feel his stomach knot up in guilt, knowing he was moving away rather than towards where his little brother currently was. Coupled with the sense of agitation that he now had about his brother's crew… There was little that could put him at ease at the moment. He let out an inaudible sigh. "...Sorry, Koala."

"It's fine, I get it." A quiet rustle and the sound of a zipper being unzipped followed her words. Sabo stared down at his hands, clasped anxiously as they hung between his legs. "If I could meet Tiger-san again…" Koala continued, the tilt in her voice wistful, "I would probably be feeling the same way you must be."

Sabo's lips attempted to form a smile, but the warmth of the gesture didn't quite reach his eyes. Koala's words were meant to be soothing, he knew this, but they did nothing to quell the storm of emotions that had been troubling him since he had regained his memories. This time, his lack of response lingered in the air between them for too long. Koala cleared her throat.

"A-Anyway," she continued, her voice picking up its confidence again. "Just remember, while we head to Drum, Max and the others will report back on the status of Little Garden. So we really do have every angle covered, don't you think?" With that said, Koala finally stepped out of the dressing room, now sporting a marine uniform of her own. She flashed Sabo an encouraging grin before dragging him off the crate he'd been sitting on.

"Now, come on! Let's get ready to steal an eternal pose! For Alabasta!"

* * *

While their passage to Drum was going a little more smoothly with more hands on deck helping out, the change in weather was something none of them had adequately prepared for. The marine vessel, having originated from Loguetown, possessed little in terms of appropriate wardrobe for the winter climate. And Whiskey Peak, not exactly thriving in business both due to the mismanagement of Baroque Works' agents and the more recent wave of destruction it faced, had little to offer to them as well.

"Well, these uniforms are at least somewhat warm…" Koala mentioned as she adjusted the long sleeves of her shirt.

Small, white droplets of snow were slowly drifting down from above. The crew withheld their complaints as they steered the ship past the dangers of the Grand Line, knowing that warm food and lodging awaited them soon.

The only one that seemed unperturbed by the weather was Sabo. Having nothing better to do to occupy his time, the blond had taken over the crow's nest. He spent the last few hours gazing into the horizon in silence, lost in his thoughts.

"You're going to end up becoming a snowman, Chief."

Koala's voice drew Sabo's attention and it was only then that he noticed he was almost completely covered in snow. He let out loud sneeze and shivered, quickly getting up to his feet to shake off the snow.

"Here, take this."

A hot cup of coffee was shoved under his nose. Sabo grabbed it and immediately felt the warmth of the cup seep in through his gloves. He gave Koala a mutter of gratitude.

"You're welcome," she replied simply. Without another word, she settled down next to him, leaning over the edge of the nest and looking out into the sea. Together, they waited in silence until they finally caught the first sight of Drum Island.

Much to their surprise, as they neared the island, they were welcomed by a huge crowd of people lined up along the snowy mountain coast.

"The marines are here!"

"The marines have arrived!"

But although they were mostly met with smiles, the revolutionaries were too keen to miss the strange tension that the citizens were doing their best to hide.

When they set down anchor and lowered the bridge, Sabo and Koala were personally greeted by a large, broad-shouldered man. By the look of his attire, he appeared to be one of the King's royal guards.

"Welcome. My name is Dalton," the man said, introducing himself with a short salute. "I have to admit that we did not expect a visit from the marines. Forgive me, but may I ask why you are here?"

Despite his polite tone, Sabo noted that this man, too, was more uneasy than he wanted to let on. The blond put on a pleasant smile as he answered, deciding to stick to their original script until they had gathered more information.

"We've come to speak to your King. There is a request we'd like to make of him."

The change that took place at his words was immediate. A noticeable hush fell across the clearing, and, out of the corner of his eye, Sabo spotted a few civilians discreetly pull out a pair of guns.

Dalton, clearly astute enough to realize that he needed to take hold of the situation before it escalated, was quick to respond to their request.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible. This country no longer has a king."

At that, Sabo and Koala exchanged grave glances.

"Please, tell us what happened," Sabo said.

"This may take some time. If you would, please follow me. I will show you to the village."

The crowd around them slowly began to disperse as Sabo, Koala, and about half of their crew followed Dalton into the village. On their way, a pair of large, white bears walked past them and bowed their heads. Sabo, instinctively, did the same.

"I see that you are familiar with the Hiking Bears. Have you been here before?" Dalton asked, sparing them a quick, curious glance.

"Ah, no actually," Sabo said, scratching his cheek a little sheepishly.

Koala hid an amused grin. "Well, I have," she pointed out. "Though, it's been a while since my last visit to the Drum Kingdom. Still, they're cute, aren't they? Not a sight that's easy to forget," she joked.

A few members of their crew chuckled alongside her agreeably, but Dalton only grew quiet once more.

"...This country no longer bears that name," he said grimly. He said no more on the subject until they arrived at the village. The two followed him into his house while the rest of the revolutionaries headed to the nearest inn, to rest up and stock up on supplies.

Once inside, Sabo and Koala took a seat at the table and watched as Dalton filled up a kettle with water and placed it on the stove. As he left that to heat up, he turned towards the fireplace and the room soon grew warm as a thick set of flames rose to life. Dalton stood up, and Sabo noticed then the indecision etched in the man's body. His body half-turned towards them, but at the last moment, Dalton murmured a quiet apology and returned to the kitchen. He took his time there, keeping himself busy until he could no longer put it off. The kettle whistled sharply, and moments later, Dalton joined them at the table, setting down cups in front of them and filling them with warm tea.

"Will you tell us what happened?" Koala asked, her voice gentle.

Dalton set the kettle down and let out a heavy sigh.

"It happened only about three months ago," he began gravely. "A small crew of pirates led by a man called Blackbeard invaded our country. It was then that the King, Wapol, abandoned this country."

Koala sucked in a surprised breath, and Sabo—

Sabo's lips flattened into a thin line. The statement drew an unpleasant memory to the forefront of his mind. His hands clenched into tight fists under the table.

"There is no army left on this island," Dalton continued in that same, grim voice. "During the time of the attack, the royal army immediately recognized that those pirates were too strong for them to fight against, so they, alongside Wapol, ran away from the island." Dalton paused here to stare at the two. Their reaction to his tale must have assuaged whatever had been plaguing him ever since they had arrived here, for it was with much more confidence that he spoke next.

"The people in this island don't have much faith left in the government. With only ourselves to rely on now, we have started to stand on our own feet. We want to build a peaceful, fair nation. But that man will surely try to come back and destroy everything we are working towards." Abruptly, Dalton placed his hands on his knees and bowed his head deeply. "Please, help us!"

The desperation in Dalton's voice resonated deeply in Sabo's heart. The tense muscles in his arms trembled silently as his fists clenched even tighter.

" _Old man…"_

There was a small echo in his mind, a flash of an image. He remembered a younger version of himself, kneeling on the ground, sobbing helplessly as smoke filled the air and the fire behind him burned and burned and burned. A dry, ashy taste gathered under his tongue.

" _This town stinks worse than Gray Terminal. It smells like people rotten to the core!"_

Sabo knew, intimately, that in this era, those in power were too often corrupt, rotten people who only cared about themselves and looked down on those they felt were beneath them. Even before he had regained his memory, he had known this well. He'd let the anger he felt towards this unjust, despicable world raise him to be the man he had become. But never before today had he remembered so clearly this sick, heavy feeling that sank in his stomach. How could Wapol forsake his people so easily? How could anyone?

" _If I stay here… I'll never be free!"_

Sabo closed his eyes. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face and his breath grew heavy. _I don't… I don't want to remember this!_ he thought, the nausea curling deeper as the image of his father, callous and cruel as ever, loomed in his mind.

" _If you have the time to sit around drawing pictures, why don't you go to your room and study?!"_

His mother's voice, cold and sickeningly sweet, resurfaced.

" _If you marry a royal, our family will be able to live easy!"_

The bitter, lonely feeling that he had carried with him through a large portion of his childhood emerged from deep inside his heart.

" _All they ever cared about was their status and fortune. There was never a place for me in that house."_

"Sabo-kun?"

Koala's hand settled on his forearm, but a sudden sharp pain jolted through him as he was anchored back to the present. Sabo winced and shook off her touch to clutch the side of his aching, throbbing head. When he opened his eyes, his vision blurred.

"Shit…" he mumbled, blinking slowly through the sting in his eyes. There was an unbearable pressure in the middle of his brow, tightening and tightening as the rush of his darkest memories continued to hit him.

"Sabo?!"

The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness were the words he had once shouted with all the despair his small body could emanate, words that he had subconsciously carried with him all this time.

" _I am so ashamed to have been born a noble!"_

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "Doubts" Sabo is forced to face his fears earlier than he expected. Meanwhile, Koala continues to worry a lot. Hang in there, Koala.


	8. Chapter 8: Doubts

I've been having very long weeks at work lately, and next week is going to be even heavier! I miss being on vacation. Still, you guys continue to keep my spirits up with your wonderful comments! Thank you!

Fun fact about the last chapter: when I was writing it, there was a 50% chance that instead of going to Drum, Sabo and Koala would have ended up in Kyuka Island, where Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek were before they went to Little Garden. I ended up scrapping that idea in the end, this just worked out better.

This chapter was fun to write for me... not as fun for Sabo. Let me know what you think!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Eight: Doubts**_

* * *

"Ugh…"

Sabo slowly stirred awake, an action that his body was very much protesting against. His head felt heavy, slow. His thoughts, scattered and cloudy as they were, struggled to become coherent despite the thick, syrupy layer of sheer tiredness that threatened to pull him back into the depths of sleep.

He blinked blearily and forced himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes. As he did so, he felt the blanket that had been covering him slide away. His attention was drawn to it for several seconds until his mind finally caught up with the sense of _wrongness_ that had emerged from the motion.

The blanket that had been covering him had fallen to the floor. The wooden floor. The floor that he was sitting on—that he had been sleeping on.

Why had he been sleeping on the floor?

Sabo's brow furrowed and he stared at the floor a little longer before looking around, confused. His mouth fell open as he took in his surroundings.

 _This can't be…_

He quickly jumped to his feet, ignoring his fatigue. His heartbeat thrummed with disbelief.

"How…?!"

These walls, the blankets on the floor, the sake cups hanging by the entrance - there could be no other conclusion but one.

He was in their hideout.

Sabo stumbled forward and pressed his hand against the wooden walls, noticing first the familiar patterns on the wood, and then the smallness of his fingers. He pulled his hand away to inspect it, turning it back and forth in awe.

He stopped abruptly and reached up to touch his face, but to his complete astonishment, his fingers only met smooth skin. His scar was gone.

"What the hell…" he whispered.

This had to be a dream, Sabo realized.

But as soon as the thought came, a small, desperate surge of hope began to creep in. He couldn't help but dare to think, had everything else, the fire, the explosion, his memory loss—had that, perhaps, been the dream?

It had all seemed so real…

"But so does this!" the blond hissed, trying to convince himself. He looked around once more with bated breath, this time carefully taking his time examining the hideout. Everything… _everything_ was exactly like he remembered.

"Haha…! Haahahaha…!"

Sabo's shoulders shook. The bout of laughter that overtook him was perhaps a little hysterical, but more importantly, filled with relief. It took him several long minutes before he was able to compose himself.

"Waaah!"

A flock of birds suddenly took off into the sky, drawing Sabo's attention. He glanced towards the window and realized then that there was a familiar voice yelling in the distance.

"Heeeey! Somebody, help! Let go of me, you big jerk!"

Sabo's eyes widened. He rushed to the window, and after a couple seconds of frantic searching, he spotted Luffy a few feet away, trapped under the grip of a rather large snake. His stomach plummeted to his feet.

"Luffy!" he cried out when he heard his baby brother yelp in pain.

The blond was quick to gather his wits. He snatched his pipe from the floor of the hideout and jumped down, rushing towards where Luffy was.

"Sabo!" Luffy cried the moment their eyes met.

Sabo gathered all his strength as he lunged at the snake, taking advantage of his momentum as he slammed his pipe onto the snake's head. The snake hissed in pain, and for a brief moment, it loosened its grip on Luffy.

"Alright!" Luffy cheered as he quickly escaped.

Sabo didn't waste time with the fight and instead made a quick retreat with Luffy at his side. The two of them ran and ran until the snake was long gone from their sight.

"Hehehe, thanks, Sabo! That was close!" Luffy said once they had both caught their breaths.

"You little idiot!" Sabo growled. He whirled on his heels and slammed his fist down on the top of Luffy's head. "What were you doing there all by yourself?!"

"Ouch…!" Luffy grumbled, sniffling a little as he covered the swelling bump on his head with both of his hands. "I was hunting for food! Where were you, Sabo?"

"I was…" Sabo faltered for a second as he remembered exactly what he had been doing only moments ago. His tongue sought out the gap between his teeth as his gaze drifted, taking in the familiar surroundings. A part of him still had a hard time believing that he was _here_.

"Sabo?"

Luffy's big, dark eyes were wide in concern. He leaned in close and tugged on his sleeve. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Sabo whispered, not sure how he could even begin to explain his predicament. "I just… had a bad dream," he said. He placed a hand on Luffy's shoulder and forced himself to put on a reassuring smile. He had to keep a strong face for his little brother, as well as for…

His smile faded.

"Hey Lu… Where's Ace?"

"Oh, so you _do_ remember me."

Sabo flinched. His breath caught in his throat and he took a couple of seconds to calm himself before slowly turning around. There, shadowed beneath the foliage of the forest, was the familiar silhouette of a young boy.

"Ace…?" he whispered, his voice a little hesitant.

His brother took a step into the light and Sabo's heart thumped loudly as he caught sight of the expression on Ace's face. It was as blank and unmoving as a stone, cold save for the heat smoldering in his eyes.

"Ace," Sabo said again, this time with a poor attempt of a smile. "Hey, where have you been?"

"Where have _I_ been?" Ace growled and his face contorted with fury. His eyes glared daggers that pierced straight through Sabo's heart. "Where the hell have you been, Sabo? It's been ten goddamn years!"

Sabo's heart stopped in his chest. The blood rushed straight out of his face. "H-Hah… What you talking about, Ace?"

"You…!" Ace hissed through his teeth. "Are you going to make me say it? Fine. I'll say it, you bastard. You promised you would have my back. You _swore_." His brother slowly stalked forward with each word, looking much like the tiger they had all once faced together. Sabo wanted nothing more just then than to step back and retreat, but he felt frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle.

Despite them being the same height, when Ace finally stood in front of him, his body seemed to tower over Sabo's.

"Ace…"

Ace cut him off before he could say another word. He dragged Sabo closer by the nape of his jacket and hissed into his ear, his voice heated with scorn and heavy with disappointment. "But instead, you forgot all about us. You kept on going without ever looking back. Even you, Sabo," and here, Ace nearly choked on his own words, his voice wavering, "even you would have been fine if I had never been born."

"That's not… That's not true…!" Sabo denied. The accusation _hurt._ "Ace… please, let me explain…!"

Ace pulled back enough to sneer at him. "Go ahead then. Tell me! Why? Why did you abandon us?!"

Sabo's eyes welled up with tears. He sniffled, breathing hard as he struggled to put the right words in place.

"I—I couldn't stay, Ace. I didn't mean to forget you, I swear I didn't. It's just—"

"It's just that you ran away," Ace said bitterly. "The truth is—you hated yourself more than you ever cared about us."

"No! It's not like that!"

"Isn't it? You didn't even come back to give us a proper goodbye!"

"I couldn't!"

"Bullshit!" Ace's grip tightened. His hands shook as his fingers dug into the fabric of Sabo's jacket.

"Even if he forgives you, _I_ won't. You hear me, Sabo? I should have known better than to have ever called you my br-"

"Don't!"

Sabo's eyes slammed shut and he broke away from Ace then, stumbling back as he shoved his brother as far away as he could. His hands quickly rose to cover his ears, not wanting to hear anything anymore.

 _Don't say it!_

Sabo's breath was harsh and agitated, his body tense as he waited with dread for Ace to continue.

 _Don't say it!_ he begged silently.

But when several heartbeats passed without interruption, Sabo's hands slowly fell to his sides again and, hesitantly, he allowed himself to open his eyes.

The forest — the birds — the ground beneath him — everything that had rooted him to this time and place had faded away. Ace was gone. Luffy was gone.

Sabo was alone.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. The words were swallowed by the black, unending darkness. "I'm sorry. Please, please…"

* * *

"Come back…"

When Sabo blinked awake this time, a pool of tears slid down the sides of his cheeks. He swallowed hard, wanting, to no avail, to soothe the ache swelling up in his throat. The discomfort caused his vision to blur further. Frustrated, he forced himself to take a long, deep breath, holding it in as he pressed the palms of his hands down against the lids of his eyes.

He lay quietly in the soft bed for several minutes. He felt a raw sort of ache, as if his entire body had been skinned and flipped inside out. But even that did not compare to the sharp pain ebbing in his chest. That dream had stabbed him deep, digging into his biggest fears and insecurities, the ones he had not yet felt ready to face. Now that he had, he thought, rather pessimistically, that this might be a wound that would never heal.

When he finally regained his composure, he let out a quiet sigh. But the tension in his body did not have a chance to abate for it was at that moment that he became intimately aware of something.

He was not alone.

Wary, Sabo allowed his limbs to fall away from his face and slowly sat up. His gaze immediately sought the other person in the room.

It was a woman well into her years going by the wrinkles on her face. She was sitting on a wooden chair, only a few feet away from him. She had a book in her hand and a nearly empty bottle of rum dangling from the other. Sabo only had a second to wonder who she might be when she lowered her book down enough to look at him.

"Ah, you're awake," she said, as if she had not noticed Sabo stir to consciousness moments ago.

The woman set the bottle on the table next to her with a loud thunk and after placing a marker in the book, she set that down too. She rose to her feet as smoothly as if she was twenty and Sabo's eyebrows rose as he took in her attire. Despite her age, the old woman was dressed like a teenager, from the short midriff shirt to the gold piercing on her belly button.

"Who are you?"

"I am Dr. Kureha. You can call me Doctorine," she told him with a cocky smirk and a wink.

 _A doctor…?_

Sabo frowned. His eyes drifted towards the window. The snow outside served as a reminder of where he was and what he had been doing before he had…

"You were running a slight fever before. Nothing too serious this time," Kureha mentioned as she approached him.

Sabo glanced back at her, his frown deepening. "How—"

"—did I know about that? I heard it all from that pretty young lady you came here with. Amnesia, huh?" She poked her index finger into the center of his forehead, pressing insistently as he tried to lean away from it. Sabo scowled but ultimately relented. When she pulled her finger back, the doctor looked satisfied.

"Where is she, anyway?" Sabo asked as he rubbed the spot she had prodded.

The doctor briefly pointed her thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of the closed bedroom door. "I kicked her out. She's keeping my assistant company right now. But tell me, kid," her serious tone of voice drew his attention back to her, "have you been getting many headaches since you got your memory back?"

He hadn't expected the question. Sabo debated for a moment on whether or not he wanted to answer, not quite in the best of moods for sharing after the dream he had. Still, he knew she was only doing her job.

"Well?" Kureha prompted impatiently.

"No... Not really."

"Hmm." The doctor crossed her arms over her chest and examined him thoughtfully. "It's your sleep then, is it? Have you gotten a full night's rest since then?"

Sabo grimaced and remained silent this time. The doctor, in turn, nodded to herself. "I see." She reached for the sake bottle once more and took a long, satisfying gulp before slamming the empty bottle back on the table.

"Well! Right now, you're more or less fit as a fiddle. Fever's gone, that's important. It's normal for you to be experiencing these kinds of symptoms. However," she thrust her hand forward, her finger pointing at him accusingly, "it's obvious that you have been straining yourself and that just won't do anymore, you hear me?"

Sabo's mouth opened to protest against that line of questioning. "I haven't-"

Kureha's eyes narrowed as she regarded him with a piercing gaze.

"I'll have you know, I never let my patients go unless they're either dead or fully recovered," she told him, her voice dead serious. "I'd keep you locked up in here if I knew that's what would be good for you. However… my expertise lies with healing the body when it's sick. The battle you've got going on here is one you have to face yourself, kid." She tapped her thumb twice against her forehead.

Sabo's gaze darkened. "You make it sound so simple…" he muttered, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.

The doctor raised a thin eyebrow and gave him a knowing look. "You can start by getting some more rest. Your friend mentioned you've been spacing out these past few days. It will be easier on your body if you let it process your recovering memories while you are asleep. Now, if you're avoiding that because you are troubled by what you've remembered… Talk it out, you little idiot. Unless you want to keep passing out, of course." She let out a derisive snort. "Now as for my payment..."

Sabo was surprised at the swiftness of her movements. In a mere blink, she had walked across the room and was digging through the pockets of Sabo's pants.

"Hey!"

His brow furrowed in confusion for a split second as he glanced down to look at what he was wearing—he was down to his underclothes, the marine uniform he'd appropriated had all been neatly hanged in the nearby dresser.

"I'll be taking this," Kureha said, and when Sabo looked up again, he saw her holding a familiar piece of parchment between her thin, skilled fingers. It was the map - the map that Dragon had entrusted him to give to Luffy.

"That's Luffy's!" he blurted out. "Give that back!"

The doctor's eyes danced mischievously. "I think not," she told him, her lips a wide grin, and pocketed the map inside her own jacket.

Sabo's eyebrow twitched. With no regard to his state of undress, he threw the bedcovers out of his way and lunged towards her.

"That's not for sale!"

The doctor let out an amused cackle as she moved out of his way. "That's not for you to decide~"

"Of course it is!" Sabo snapped. "If you're looking for payment, I have money," he growled.

"Tch. How boring."

The old woman's amused laugh filled the room as Sabo chased her around for several minutes, but she did eventually relent.

"Fine, fine. I'll take the money."

Sabo was momentarily distracted when she discarded the map with little care, throwing it over her shoulder. He came to a jerking stop and the map bounced between his hands as he struggled to catch it. This gave the doctor enough time to fish out his wallet the same way she had acquired the map. Sabo scowled but decided to choose his battles. He kept his gaze on her as he held the map to his chest protectively.

Unfazed by his meticulous watch, Kureha hummed quietly as she counted a large sum of bills out of his wallet. "Luffy, huh? That name rings a bell."

She was clearly baiting him. Sabo's scowl deepened, but he decided to play her game a little longer.

"Does it?"

Kureha let out another quiet hum. "Yup. There was a guy asking about a Luffy the other day. He was quite a character, that one," she told him offhandedly.

Sabo hummed thoughtfully in reply. He wasn't too worried, if all this guy was doing was asking. But it was probably best to cover all his bases. "Did he say why he was looking for him? What did he look like?"

She shrugged. "I didn't catch much of his face. He was wearing a hood the whole time, definitely a shady guy. Although, he did run out on his bill back at the tavern. Not the best way to keep a low profile," she cackled, amused at her own words. "Anyway, all he mentioned was that he was heading to Alabasta and that he would wait there 10 days for this Luffy guy to show up," she said before she grabbed another handful of bills out of Sabo's wallet.

"That's for the tip." She winked. "Now don't ask me anymore. That's all I know about it," she said.

Luckily for her, there was a knock on the door that cut Sabo off before he could press her for more information.

"Can I come in yet?" Koala's meek voice called from the other side of the door.

Kureha smirked and tugged the door open. Not having expecting that, Koala stumbled forward. She would have fallen straight on her face was it not for the reindeer pulling the edge of her shirt back with his teeth.

"Sabo! Hey!"

Sabo slowly raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey."

"It's about time you woke up. Geez." Despite her complaint, the redhead only looked relieved. She straightened up and brought up her wrist in front of her. The light of the room caught on the glass of the Eternal Pose that was on her wrist.

"You ready to go then?"

Sabo glanced back at the doctor, but she was already walking out of the room, the reindeer that had helped Koala hot on her heels. He still wanted to ask her more questions, but...

"Yeah…" he said with a short sigh. "Let's get going."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "The Desert Island - Alabasta" Sabo decides to take Kureha's advice, and tries to check on the lead she gave him as well. Just who else is looking for Luffy?


	9. Chapter 9: The Desert Island - Alabasta

It's that time of the week again! Did you miss me? =)

As always, thank you for all your wonderful comments! I love hearing from you all!

Edit: Phew! Thank you so much for the few readers that caught my error with the bounty! I had a comment to review that before for posting, but when I uploaded my doc, it didn't show! I'm glad I was able to get that fixed right away - thanks again guys ^^

* * *

 ** _Chapter Nine: The Desert Island - Alabasta_**

* * *

 _Amidst the ocean of the Grand Line, the ship that left the country formerly known as the Drum Kingdom was sailing peacefully..._

A lot happened after Sabo passed out in Dalton's house. While Koala didn't tell him in as many words when she recounted the story, it was obvious that she had panicked when he suddenly lost consciousness. Thankfully, the island's only doctor arrived at the right moment. But Koala had been kept on her toes then too for Dr. Kureha had not been fooled by their pretense of passing off as marines.

In exchange of her services, the doctor had dragged the details behind their visit from Koala, and once satisfied, she dangled the very item they had been after—the Eternal Pose to Alabasta—under Koala's nose as she requested for the revolutionaries to give their country a hand against Wapol.

Koala, more than happy to come to their aid, accepted the old woman's terms, and as soon as they had left the island, they called Max and the others on the ship's den den mushi to give them an update.

"You called at a good time, Chief! The Straw Hats just set sail from Little Garden - they're heading to Alabasta after all."

The news caused Koala's eyes to dance with excitement. She grinned widely and turned to look at Sabo as she spoke into the den den mushi. "That's great to hear, Max!"

Sabo, not wanting to give Koala further ammunition, contained his own relief with only a small smile. "Great work, Max," he said. "We have some news for you guys too, but I'll leave it to Koala to explain things."

Five days had passed since they had last communicated. By now, Sabo was sure that Max's group had arrived to the winter island. He wondered how long they would have to stay there. No one in his crew envied their assignment—by the second day of their departure, everyone rejoiced when the cold became a distant memory, replaced by sunny, warm days and cool winds.

However, as was common when sailing through the Grand Line, their respite was a short one. When Sabo exited the galley that afternoon, he was hit with a noticeable wave of heat. He held his hand over his eyes and squinted up at the clear, cloudless sky.

"We're getting close," he told Koala, who had followed him out into the ship's deck.

"You're right. We got here faster than I thought we would! We sure did get lucky back there, didn't we?"

A flap of wings drew the attention of the two. A News Coos, upon having spotted their ship, rapidly began their descent, eager to make a sale.

"Hey there," Sabo said with a friendly smile. He dropped a few coins into the bird's deposit pouch and the bird cooed in response, allowing him to retrieve one of the newspapers it was carrying in its back before taking off.

Nothing in the headlines drew Sabo's attention today, a fact that made him frown. Before leaving Dalton's house, they had caught a glimpse of the newspaper on his table and found out that a substantial size of Alabasta's royal army had switched sides to join the rebels, tilting the scales in their cold war. Since that article, there had been little mention regarding the situation on the newspapers. The lack of information had the revolutionaries more worried than not, especially now that they knew the real cause behind the increasing civil tensions in the desert country.

During Max's report on the events that had taken place in Little Garden, Koala was informed that the mastermind behind the illegal trafficking of Dance Powder was the leader of Baroque Works, and he was none other than one of the Shichibukai, Crocodile.

 _Just what mess have you gotten yourself into, Luffy?_ Sabo couldn't help but to feel a little worried. The Shichibukai were not an opponent that should be taken lightly. But somehow, his reckless little brother had gotten tied up with all of this. Given that the princess of Alabasta was still sailing with Luffy's crew, it was only inevitable before they soon crossed paths with Crocodile.

"Saaa-booo-kun…"

Sabo blinked. When he glanced up from the newspaper, he noticed Koala's cheeks were puffed out in annoyance. She had her hand held out in front of her expectantly.

"Ah, here," he said as he passed the newspaper over to her. She took it, but instead of turning her attention to the black and white pages, Koala's gaze remained intently on him.

"You were spacing out again, you know," she finally said after a moment of deliberation. "Are you feeling okay?"

The concern in Koala's gaze made Sabo want to squirm a little. "Sorry. I'm just a little tired," he told her, waving off the question.

But Koala was not very convinced by his answer. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him sternly. "You want to give that another try?"

Sabo's nose wrinkled at her insistence. "I'm alright, Koala. Really," he said. "You're going to get wrinkles one day from worrying so much, you know."

Koala's eyebrow twitched and her eyes narrowed into a heated glare. "And whose fault do you think that would be?"

"Yours?"

She let out a low growl and took a swipe at him. Sabo laughed and ducked out of her reach before taking off with Koala hot on his heels. The two raced around the deck for several minutes, happy for the opportunity to blow off some steam.

Eventually, they found themselves back inside the galley. Sweat clung to their skin, sliding down their faces and disappearing under their necklines. After pouring herself a cold drink, Koala slumped down on one of the kitchen's chairs. Sabo chose to stand. He leaned back on the counter, resting his elbows on it as he took a long sip of water. But that brief reprieve was all that Koala allowed him.

"Come on," she said, picking up right where she had left off. "Work with me, will you? I'm worried about you," she told him, frowning. This time, Sabo did squirm. "You've been looking more than a little tired lately… You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

She was right on the mark. He was mostly running on caffeine these days. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd managed to rest for more than four hours of sleep at a time.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He didn't. But that old hag's words nagged at him to at least try.

" _If you are troubled by what you've remembered... Talk it out, you little idiot."_

Sabo let out a small sigh. He supposed it couldn't hurt to follow the doctor's advice, even if he didn't know where to start.

"Look, it's really nothing. I just… I don't know what to expect, when I see them. It's been so long since we last saw each other. And the last time was... "

The image of Gray Terminal, of Bluejam and his crew holding his brothers hostage, flashed across his mind.

" _Don't go! Sabo!"_

" _Sabo! Is this how it's gonna end?!"_

Sabo's stomach gave a small lurch. He set down his glass beside him and worried his lip between his teeth as he glared at the floor. "...Who knows how it will turn out," he said eventually. "They might not even remember who I am."

"Do you really think that's possible?"

Sabo looked up and when he met Koala's sympathetic gaze, his lips twitched bitterly. "I certainly forgot all about them," he murmured.

"That wasn't your fault - it wasn't something you could control," she reminded him gently.

" _You didn't even come back to give us a proper goodbye!"_

The words from his dream rang in his ears, just as clear and vivid now as they had been then. He fell asleep every night thinking of Ace's reaction, of his rightful anger. If only Sabo had gone to them on that day; if only he had waited even just one more day before setting sail. Things could have been different. But he had been young, miserable, and desperate to break free of the chains of his parentage. His greater shame then were the choices he took when he woke up in Dragon's ship, not even knowing his own name. If only then, at that time, he hadn't been so determined to discard the ties to his past - his blood, his parents, the shame of having been born a noble - he might have remembered his brothers sooner.

" _The truth is—you hated yourself more than you ever cared about us."_

"Sabo-kun."

Koala's warm fingers were wrapped around his hands. Sabo blinked slowly and tried to remember how to breathe. He watched silently as she slowly pulled his hands open. There were small moon-like indentations in the palms of his hand. He wasn't sure when those had gotten there.

When he glanced up from his hands, he met Koala's eyes and the serious expression on her face melted. Her gaze softened and she gave him an encouraging smile.

"Have faith in them. They're your brothers," she told him, giving his hands a light squeeze.

This time, the memory of their cups clinking together, of the taste of sake under his tongue, resurfaced. The warm memory wrapped around Sabo's doubts and fears and he clung to it as tightly as he could.

 _Ace… Luffy…_ he thought. _I hope you forgive me… and if you can't just yet… I promise, I'll do everything I can to make all these years up to you both,_ he promised himself.

Despite the lingering trepidation tucked away in a corner of his heart, Sabo felt lighter than he had in weeks. He allowed himself a small smile.

"Thanks, Koala."

* * *

 _The port town, Nanohana..._

The sun was getting low in the sky when they arrived to Alabasta. They docked their ship at the port with relative ease, once again grateful for having acquired the marine vessel. No one batted an eye at them when they disembarked. Most of the crew were still wearing the marine uniforms they had gotten their hands on. The only exceptions were Sabo and Koala. Despite the hot weather, Sabo was intent on wearing his usual outfit, wanting to carry the comfort that came with it when he went into town. Not that he was going to admit that out loud.

"It will protect me from the sun," he excused when Koala questioned him about it.

"Or give you heatstroke," she said dryly as she put on a more practical cloak over her own outfit. "Here. At least leave the coat behind."

Sabo caught the cloak she threw his way with one hand. He looked down at his other hand, giving his coat a mournful look. He considered tying it around his waist, under his cloak, but...

"You'll look ridiculous," Koala told him, reading his thoughts from his face.

Sabo stuck out his tongue at her but relented. "Fine."

The two arrived at the entrance of the town within minutes, but before they could weave their way through the crowds, Koala's baby den den mushi began to ring.

 _Purupurupurupuru_

The two exchanged a brief look before Koala ducked into a nearby alley to answer.

"Hello?"

Sabo left her to handle the call, allowing himself to be distracted by the merchants lined up along both sides of the streets. Business was still going strong despite the late hour. There was a wide assortment of products being sold, not limited to foreign fruit, rare spices, incenses and fabrics of varying qualities and colors. As he walked down the street, he listened in on several people to get a gauge of the town's morale. He caught a few people commenting on the state of their country's politics in low voices, but nothing that rang any alarms. For the most part, everyone seemed much more concerned with haggling as they shopped around for the best prices they could get.

The smell of freshly grilled meat wafted to his nose and made him pause. Sabo followed the scent with his eyes and his stomach growled at the sight that accompanied it: meaty shish kabobs, perfectly browned with just a small edge of char on the corners.

"Hey mister, I'll take three of those, please!"

Sabo was handing over the last set of bills left in his wallet when Koala finally caught up to him.

"That was Hack!" she told him, bouncing on her heels. "He said he made it here safely and," here, her voice lowered until they were back amidst the safety of the crowds, "he said that he brought a few more of us with him just in case the situation here escalates."

Sabo shook his head ruefully. "Work's followed me all the way here. So much for taking some time off," he joked around a mouthful of meat. "Still, that's some good timing," he said, glad to hear Hack was around.

"Isn't it?!"

Despite the serious situation, Koala's eyes were bright as she spoke.

"Wanna split up?" he suggested. Sabo knew it had been a while since she had a chance to catch up with her mentor. "We'll cover more ground that way and you can stop by and see Hack in person."

Koala looked genuinely tempted. Sabo knew the only thing holding her back was her desire to keep an eye on him. He rolled his eyes and nudged her with his elbow, careful not to drop the food he was carrying.

"Just go," he told her. "Promise I won't get lost."

Koala snorted, quickly changing her tune from worried to incredulous. "Do me one better than that. Try not to draw any attention to yourself. And if something happens, please, _call us._ " It was less of a request and more of a threat.

"I'll call, I'll call. Go and say hi to Hack for me, will you?"

Sabo took the last bite out of his remaining skewer and watched her go until she disappeared from his sight.

 _She's such a worrywart…_ he thought with a wry grin. Although he often complained about her (and Hack's) constant nagging, he didn't mind it as much as he pretended to. Although they would never take the place of his brothers, Sabo felt a similar warmth towards them. They had filled the void inside of him more than he had ever realized throughout all these years. He hoped his brothers had gained people like them. The three of them had faced too much loneliness and hardships when they were kids. They deserved more than the hand the world had dealt them back then.

 _Ace… Luffy… Are the two of you happy?_

He had heard great things about Whitebeard's views on family, enough to think that they might have had at least some success at melting Ace's difficult personality. But Luffy had always been too kind-hearted and trusting. He still felt wary of his little brother's crew. He hoped that the incident in Whiskey Peak was nothing more than a misunderstanding.

As if to reassure his fears, it was then that Sabo spotted a familiar blinding grin. Luffy's face stood out at him in plain sight, pinned atop the walls of a nearby building.

WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

MONKEY D LUFFY

30,000,000 beri

Sabo approached the building and grabbed his brother's picture off of the wall. It felt like it had been so long since he had last seen this picture. Back then, in Baltigo, he'd had no recollection of his brother's face. He had only felt a strange sense of pride and happiness, a feeling that he would have dismissed and forgotten about if he had not run into Dragon only moments after.

And now, here he was. About to see his little brother for the first time in years. He could hardly believe it. The poster crinkled under his grip slightly as he grinned, feeling equal parts excited and terrified.

Now all he had to do was wait.

* * *

Sabo spent the rest of his afternoon walking around the town gathering information from the citizens of Alabasta as the sky slowly darkened. His repertoire of questions included:

"Excuse me, have you seen this kid come around here?"

"Have you ever met this kid?"

And, after he remembered what Dr. Kureha had mentioned to him a few days ago:

"Have you seen anyone asking about this kid?"

It took several tries before he was able to get any sort of positive response.

"Oh yeah," a woman in her mid-twenties said, putting a thoughtful finger up to her chin. She was wearing a heavy flowery-scented perfume and a blue headdress. "Actually… there was this one guy earlier today."

"What did he look like?" Sabo asked, curious to find out just who was looking for Luffy.

"Well… he was about your height, maybe a little taller. He, um, wasn't really wearing much," she told him with a small grin as her cheeks reddened slightly, "ah, but his hat really stood out!"

Sabo held back an amused grin at the description and asked where the guy had gone. But before she could answer, another voice cut in, interrupting her.

"And just why are you looking for this guy?"

Sabo glanced behind him and he did a quick double-take. That's… His breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of that familiar, freckled face and coal dark eyes.

It was the last person he had expected to find here.

 _No way…_

"A-Ace…?!" he blurted out, unable to contain his shock.

Ace immediately tensed up. His dark eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at him, sizing him up.

"Who are you?" his brother said in a cautious, guarded tone.

Sabo swallowed hard. His fingers shook, the tremors traveling up the sides of his arms.

 _I can't… believe this…_ he thought, the shock almost paralyzing him. _Why are you here?_

Sabo really felt at war with himself, the joy of seeing one of his brothers at last struggling against the anxiety rising in his chest. Ace… Ace was _here._

 _Ace…_ Sabo swallowed again, feeling his throat ache dryly. He forced himself to breathe and turned around fully to face his brother, feeling the rest of the world fade away until it was just the two of them. Slowly, Sabo raised his hands until his fingers brushed against the edge of the cloak's hood. He drew the hood back carefully, revealing his blond hair and round eyes.

Ace's eyebrows furrowed, the wrinkles in his brow becoming pronounced. He stared at him blankly for a long moment, his gaze roving over every inch of his face until a hint of recognition blossomed in his eyes, followed by suspicion (confusion?).

"Hey." Sabo attempted a smile, his lips trembling with the effort. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" he said, quietly controlling his voice to stay steady, even if his heart was anything but. "It's me, Sabo."

Sabo observed as Ace's jaw tightened. He held his breath as he waited for his brother to say something, anything. He hadn't prepared for this to happen so soon. He wasn't sure of what sort of reaction to expect from him. He still didn't know what to say— how to explain— where to begin—

The air between them was charged with tension. Sabo felt his knees threaten to buckle as an invisible pressure began to weight him down, growing heavier with each second that passed. Nausea curled around his stomach and his heart fluttered wildly with uncertainty. When he finally saw his brother take a long step towards him, his muscles locked in place. Ace's face was as blank and unmoving as a stone, cold save for the heat flickering in his eyes.

 _Ace…_

His brother's name was at the tip of his tongue. The need to explain himself rushed forth, but Sabo found himself unable to speak. He felt tongue-tied and breathless, lightheaded even. He closed his eyes tight, almost anticipating Ace's fury.

 _You can yell at me or hit me all you want,_ he thought, mentally steeling himself for it. _It's fine, it's fine. Just as long as you don't—_

" _Don't say it!"_

He found himself stuck back in that all-too-real dream, paralyzed with the fear that it would become a reality. But Sabo would not be able to find out just then what Ace's reaction would be. He was only able to register a pair of hands grabbing on to the front of his cloak when he was distracted by a dizzying feeling. He swayed, stumbling over his own feet as he was harshly pulled forward. Ace said something, his voice a heated growl in his ear, but the words were muffled. Had Sabo been any more focused, he would have noticed the odd phenomenon that was happening around them. Every person in the radius surrounding them was rapidly losing consciousness and dropping to the ground. As it was, Sabo's gaze blurred as he blinked and stared at the line of freckles lined along Ace's nose. A voice remarkably like Koala's growled at him.

"— _the_ _hell,_ _you—!_ "

Sabo only had a split second to think, a small spike of irritation piercing through his panic, _goddamit_ _, not again,_ before he lost his last thread of his consciousness.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "Reunited At Last" Sabo and Ace have a lot to catch up on... Hang in there, Sabo.


	10. Chapter 10: Reunited At Last

_I am buzzing with excitement over this chapter - and next week's too!_

Coincidentally, I ended up writing a sidepiece of Ace's POV of this chapter and the last bit of the previous chapter, which I will probably add in as a bonus scene at the end of this story.

Also, to those who are keeping up with the manga - HOLY CRAP CHAPTER 903 WAS AMAZING. I am so hyped! What a time to be alive and be back in the one piece fandom, amirite?

Let me know what you think ;)

* * *

 _ **Chapter Ten: Reunited At Last**_

* * *

Sabo woke up in an unfamiliar, dark room, his muscles achy and heavy. He groggily sat up and he hunched into himself, burying his face in his hands as he took a second to regain his bearings. He was getting real tired of waking up feeling disoriented. His head felt cloudy, as if it had been stuffed with cotton, but at least it didn't hurt. In fact…

He drew back slightly and let the bare tips of his fingers run over the side of his jaw, taken aback by the distinct lack of pain.

"Huh. He didn't punch me," he murmured, feeling a little shocked.

"Well, I was definitely tempted to."

Ace's dry voice carried across the dark room. Sabo's shoulders tensed as he followed the sound with his eyes, trying to adjust his vision to the darkness. His brother was easy to spot. He was standing by the room's only window, his forearms resting on the windowsill as he stared out into the streets outside. As the clouds slowly dispersed and the moon shone down through the small window, the pirate mark tattooed on Ace's bare back—Whitebeard's mark—became very visible.

"But you know," Ace continued in an even voice, not turning around, "you went and passed out on me instead."

"Oh." Sabo was glad Ace wasn't looking at him. He ducked his head slightly, feeling his face flush in embarrassment. That had been happening way too often to his liking, lately. "Sorry," he said lamely.

His brother let out a quiet snort before finally turning around. Sabo's gaze remained firmly on his own lap. A part of him couldn't help but to wonder whether this was just another dream, another mind trick fueled by the ever-growing guilt inside of him. He listened with trepidation as Ace began walking towards him, his footsteps only stopping once he was standing in front of him. The bed next to Sabo's creaked as Ace sat down on top of the mattress. Sabo felt his brother's gaze probing into him. He shifted over slightly to face him, letting his legs fall over the edge of the bed, but he couldn't quite bring himself to look up yet.

 _Come on…_ he thought, his stomach twisting in knots as the seconds stretched in silence. _Say something!_

He wasn't sure if he was speaking to himself or to Ace but when several more seconds passed without either of them saying anything, the blond gathered his courage and met his brother's eyes.

"Ace…" Sabo's hands curled into fists as he forced himself to speak. Ace's expression was unreadable in the dark which was more terrifying than it was relieving. He willed his heart to remain steady. "I—"

His voice cut off when a flash of flame emerged at his side. The unexpected surge of heat had Sabo recoiling until his brain caught up with his eyes. The pair of candles on the nightstand between their beds had been lit up, casting a warm glow across the dark room.

"Hah…" Sabo ran a hand through his hair, feeling silly for having overreacted. The scar peeking out under the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt made him feel strangely naked. "I guess they don't call you Fire-Fist Ace for nothing."

He offered Ace a small grin, despite how strained he felt to be acting so lightheartedly. His attempt fell flat. Ace's lips pressed together. He looked… Displeased? Remorseful? Sabo felt largely out of touch with his ability to read his brother's expressions.

"Sabo, what the hell."

Sabo stilled the instinctual need to flinch. Ace's voice was short, clipped, emotionless. His fingers were twitching, curling and uncurling as his gaze pierced straight through Sabo, scrutinizing him.

"Where the hell have you been?" Even the anger that colored Ace's words was muted.

"I'm…" Sabo swallowed hard. "I'm not sure if you ever got my letter..." he began haltingly. When he didn't immediately continue, Ace nodded, the motion small, almost imperceptible. Sabo took in a deep breath and prepared himself to recount that horrible, painful day. "That day, when I set out, there was an explosion."

"I know that much," Ace cut in, surprising him. "Dogra saw your ship blow up. We thought you were dead."

 _Dead_.

Sabo's eyes went wide in shock. Out of everything he had considered, that was the one scenario he had not imagined. He'd expected Ace's explosive anger questioning him on why he hadn't contacted them in all these years, contempt for having sailed on without ever looking back, accusations of him having purposely discarded their ties as brothers...

But this…

All these years, they thought he had been dead. If it had been him on their shoes—just the thought of it had his stomach twisting with nausea, had his heart hollowing out until it was devoid of anything but the grief that came with the loss of a brother.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, despite knowing that the words alone would never be enough to make up for the years of heartache his brothers had endured.

"Luffy cried for days," Ace told him, probing deeper into the wound.

Sabo's fingers dug into his knees. The crushing weight of guilt he felt was enough to make any man hunch over. He forced himself to bear it, keeping his spine straight and his feelings bottled.

"What happened," Ace said, and Sabo began to talk.

It felt like he spoke for hours about everything that had occurred after his father had separated them: the fire, the explosion, his memory loss, the life he'd built alongside the revolutionaries. He spoke with as much detail as possible, filled with a desire to bridge the decade-long gap between them, even if it was one-sided. Ace, for his part, listened quietly and attentively, showing the sort of patience he'd never had as a child. That drastic change in personality only made the distance between them seem even wider.

"And then I went to Loguetown. I felt drawn to it, even though at the time, I couldn't understand why. I think it reminded me of…" Here, Sabo stilled his tongue, hesitant to finish that sentence knowing how sensitive his brother was about his ties to the Pirate King. "Anyway, that's where I saw Luffy," he said instead.

"You met him?" Ace asked, his eyebrows flying up in surprise. It was the most emotion he had shown thus far.

"Well, kind of." Sabo's tense expression finally softened into something a little warmer. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought back on that moment, the terror of it no longer raw; he was rather annoyed instead. "That little troublemaker…" he grumbled. "I don't think he noticed me at all given how busy he was trying to get executed."

There was a beat of silence.

"He _what_." Ace's voice was thunderous. He fully straightened up now, his eyes wide and incredulous, his nostrils flaring with irritation.

"Oh, yeah," Sabo said with the twitch of a smirk, and gladly added fuel to the fire. "One minute, I'm walking around town, trying to figure all this out, and the next thing I see is Luffy cuffed up at the top of the gallows, with a guy about to chop off his head!"

His words had Ace pinching the bridge of his nose. "That _idiot._ I'll kill him," he growled.

Sabo snorted, feeling entirely vindicated upon seeing his brother mirror his own feelings on the matter. "You better get in line, Ace. I called dibs first this time!"

The familiarity of the moment had these words slipping out before he could help it. Sabo caught his mistake immediately and panicked for a split second.

 _That was too soon, wasn't it?_ he thought, worried. He eyed Ace warily, cursing himself for having been so careless. But rather than closing up like a clam as he had often done when they were kids, Sabo was stunned to see that his brother's expression no longer looked so cold.

"So I guess that's what…?" Ace prompted, making Sabo realize he had fallen silent for too long. He forced himself to relax and picked up where he had left off.

"Yeah. After witnessing that… Well, the shock alone was enough for me to get my head on straight, I guess. But when I woke up after that, Luffy was already long gone. I've been on his trail since then… Never thought I would run into you first." He swallowed hard, feeling his mouth dry up and his heartbeat spike up again as he tried to gather enough nerve to say his next words.

"I was afraid to meet you, you know," he said. The quiet confession felt heavy on his tongue. "I wasn't sure… I thought you'd…"

"Sabo…"

"I thought you would hate me,"Sabo said, closing his eyes tight and hanging his head low. _I still think you might,_ he thought, the fear piercing through his heart like a knife wound.

"Sabo…" Ace said again, a little more firmly. Sabo forced himself to meet his brother's eyes. The heat in them this time was as warm and as encompassing as the morning sun.

"It is you, isn't it? This isn't a joke or a dream?"

"It's not a dream," Sabo said automatically, and he tried not to think back on the time that it had been. That was a doubt he dared not contemplate, not now, not after all of this. He wished he could reassure them both of it more concretely, wished he had the courage to reach out and touch Ace, grab his hand, pull him close into a hug. But that had never been their territory—it was Luffy's.

"I'm here, Ace," he said instead, his throat tight and trembling with emotion. And he was unable to hold back anymore. Tears spilled forth from his eyes like a river and he bowed his head once more, trying to hide them from his brother's sight. "I'm here," he sobbed.

To his never-ending surprise, it was Ace who reached out then, his warm fingers brushing against Sabo's wet cheeks before sliding to the back of his neck and tugging him close. Ace's arms wrapped around the entirety of Sabo's back, squeezing him tight.

"I'm glad," Ace whispered into his shoulder. "I'm so glad that you're alive."

The words caused Sabo to let out a louder sob and he clung to his brother just as tight.

 _That's more than I could have ever hoped!_

Sabo would have never thought his journey would lead him here, would have Ace comforting him, holding him like this. He never thought Ace would so easily forgive him—not when he had barely managed to forgive himself.

"I'm sorry," he hiccupped, muffling the words into Ace's shoulder.

"Shut up, you idiot," Ace said, his voice equally as tremulous and wet.

The two stayed like that for a long time.

* * *

The next morning, Sabo expected to wake up to Ace snoring in his ear and kneeing him in the stomach. Instead, he found himself lying in bed alone.

The realization had him jolting out of bed as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him. Sabo's stomach plummeted as his eyes darted around the room and he slowly began to work himself up into a panic when he confirmed that he was absolutely and utterly alone. _Well of course he's gone,_ he thought, the pessimism almost instinctive now. _As if just one talk is gonna be enough to bridge a ten-year-long absence. We're practically strangers now and—_

Sabo's thoughts stilled as he caught sight of a note pinned to the room's front door. He stumbled over his own feet in his rush to grab it. His hands gripped the paper tight, forming sharp wrinkles around the edges as his eyes rapidly scanned over the note.

 _Went out to eat. Be back soon._

 _P.S. Don't you dare run off while I'm gone, stupid Sabo!_

There was a hastily drawn face at the bottom of the note, sticking its tongue out at Sabo mockingly. Sabo's eyebrow twitched at the sight of it.

"You're the one that ran off!" he snapped into the empty room, but his irritation was half-hearted in the face of his overwhelming relief.

He hadn't been left behind...

 _Have faith in them, they're your brothers,_ Koala had said to him yesterday.

Sabo allowed his heartbeat to steady. He knew Koala was right, knew it from the second Ace had whispered to him last night, _I'm so glad that you're alive._

But even so… it was going to take a long while before Sabo could truly forgive himself for having forgotten his brothers, much less accept that they forgave him too.

With a better peace of mind, Sabo went around the room, collecting his gloves from the nightstand and his boots from under the bed. He tidied up his sleep-wrinkled clothes before he picked up his cloak from the hook next to the door and dug through the pockets for the baby den den mushi. He had a long overdue call to make.

However, when Koala picked up, she sounded less than pleased to hear from him.

"Sabo-kun…" Koala said his name in that sweet manner that she used when she was irrevocably pissed off at him. "Please tell me you have nothing to do with the commotion happening in town right now."

"Commotion?"

Sabo walked over to the window and peered outside. He spotted several groups of marines running around the streets below.

"Yikes, what idiot went and riled them up?" he wondered.

A flash of white caught his eye when he pulled back from the window and a second glance had his eyes skittering across several rooftops until he caught sight of a thick concentration of smoke trailing behind a familiar face.

 _Isn't that…?_

Sabo's eyebrows rose as he recognized that Smoky guy he had seen in Loguetown. He was dashing across rooftops chasing…

 _Luffy?!_

"Oh hell."

Sabo hung up his call and, without further thought, jumped out the window and rushed into whatever trouble his little brother had landed himself into.

* * *

 _Several minutes later…._

"Goddammit, Luffy."

Sabo jumped from rooftop to rooftop as he chased after his little brother, but Luffy was making it harder than it should be to come to his aid. For a while, he had been able to keep an eye on both him and the Smoky guy, but the moment they jumped down to the streets below, Sabo lost them to the crowds. With these many people around, it was hard to single Luffy out even with his Observation Haki. His only choice now was to follow the marines to their target.

"Don't let him escape!"

"Get back here, Straw Hat!"

Sabo caught up just in time to see the marine captain launch an attack. A fist followed by a thick trail of smoke dashed right towards Luffy's back. He prepared to jump down from the roof to intercept it when—

"Heat Haze!"

A large wall of fire blocked the marine captain's fist, the flames spreading outwards as they consumed the smoke attack. Sabo froze for a split second as he stared at the long, thick coils of fire dancing across the air, causing the already dry heat of the desert air to sizzle uncomfortably on his skin until the flames thinned out and converged back to their source.

Ace.

His brother was standing between Luffy and the marines with a confident smirk on his lips and a challenge gleaming from his eyes. His cocksure stance made Sabo think back on the countless times he had seen this type of scene play out before when they were children.

 _Some things just never change, huh?_ The thought caused a small grin to emerge and the tension in his shoulders melted away.

Now that Luffy was no longer in immediate danger, Sabo drew back from the edge of the roof and allowed his gaze to drift away from the impending fight. He gave Luffy's crew a passing, considering glance but quickly zeroed in on his little brother's face. Seeing Luffy again after all this time caused a surge of relief to blossom inside of him. It was one thing to hear his little brother was safe—it was another thing to see it for himself. He drank in the image greedily, wanting to take in every detail that he had missed last time—but the moment was cut short much too soon. Before Sabo could even consider jumping down to greet him, Luffy and his crew took off, probably at Ace's heeding. The blond's gaze lingered on their backs until they were out of his sight before he finally turned his attention back to Ace.

Unsurprisingly, his brother was well on his way to causing an even bigger commotion than Luffy had earlier. Fire danced across the surface of his skin as he taunted the marines, and then the flames spread out in front of him, creating a wide, intimidating barrier between them.

 _You're such a show off,_ Sabo thought, his grin widening as he saw a good portion of the marines step back.

Despite the lingering desire to chase after Luffy, Ace's display made Sabo want to keep an eye on him too. He jumped down from the roof to get closer, only ducking into a nearby alley to stay out of sight. He was curious to see just how strong Ace had gotten after all this time. Sabo wasn't entirely sure about it, but he thought he still had at least one win over Ace's head. He was eager to widen that gap further.

"Out of the way," the marine captain growled.

"I don't think so," Ace said with a wide smirk.

The small exchange was all it took before the two of them went at each other. Sabo let out a low whistle as he watched their fight. Ace's control over his fire was impressive, but his opponent was no pushover, matching Ace inch for inch. Each burst of flame that Ace emitted was pushed back by an equal amount of thick smoke. The continuous struggle between them swelled in intensity as the seconds flew by, their respective elements intertwining with each other in an explosive tango that only grew bigger as it rose higher and higher in the sky.

"Sheesh, there's gonna be no end to this at this rate…" Sabo murmured to himself.

He watched the fight with a mix of excitement and impatience. On one hand, he felt obligated to stick around and offer support if Ace needed it; the last thing he wanted to do was to take off, only to later find out that Ace let himself get careless and got captured by the marines. On the other hand, he really wanted to chase after Luffy.

When the next set of explosions set off, Sabo made his decision.

"Hey, Ace!"

The verbal cue rang clear amidst all the chaos, a fact surprising enough that it gave both Ace and the marine captain reason to pause. Sabo made good use of those brief few seconds. Under the cover of the smoke, the blond dashed forward from where he had been hiding and swooped in, Armament Haki coating the skin of his arm as it firmly wrapped around his brother's waist.

"What the—"

Sabo proceeded to snatch Ace right from where he had been standing. He took off with him in three quick steps and got them back on the rooftops, before running off in the direction he had last seen Luffy and his crew take. It was only once they were a safe distance away that he finally let go of Ace, whom upon realizing what had happened, had started spluttering with indignation the entire way.

 _So ungrateful_ , Sabo thought as he let go of Ace, dropping him unceremoniously on the floor of the rooftop.

"Hey!"

The moment he was back on his feet, Ace immediately whirled around to face him with a huge scowl on his lips and a furious glare burning through his eyes.

"What the hell was that about?!" he demanded with a lick of fire fanning under his breath.

Once upon a time, Ace's temper had been something Sabo avidly tried to avoid triggering. Somehow, in between the years that he had grown up alongside Koala, Sabo had lost his sense of self-preservation.

"You were taking way too long," he told Ace with a small shrug and an innocent-looking grin.

The easygoing response only served to annoy Ace further. " _I had it covered,_ " he growled, visibly trying to restrain himself. "I was trying to buy Luffy some time before you butted in! In case you didn't know, that idiot was being chased around town by all those guys!"

"No, I noticed. It was kind of hard to miss."

Ace's eyebrow twitched. "Wait… were you just watching the whole time?" he exclaimed. "Why didn't you come help earlier?!"

Sabo's grin widened slightly. "Oh? I thought you said you had it covered. Did you need a hand after all?"

"Like hell!"

To Sabo's hidden glee, Ace's temper kept flaring up as they continued to argue back and forth, the topic moving from " _why the hell didn't you just knock him out instead of kidnapping me?"_ to " _what the hell are you even doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay put?!"_ He reveled in the familiarity of the moment; even after everything that had happened, it still felt entirely surreal that he was here, that this was _real_.

"Aaaaaaceeee…!"

A faint noise caught their attention. A voice, a distinctively familiar voice, was yelling in the far off distance, and the sound was growing stronger by the second. The two of them blinked before a feeling of dread washed over them simultaneously. They only had enough time to look in the direction the voice was coming from before something hard slammed right into them, knocking both Ace and Sabo right off their feet.

"I found you!"

Sabo let out a pained groan with the little air that he had left in him. Beside him, Ace did the same, although he sounded entirely more annoyed.

" _Lu—ffy!_ " Ace hissed through gritted teeth. He really was as bad-tempered as ever, Sabo thought, faintly amused. "Didn't I tell you to go on ahead? What the hell was the point of me letting you escape?"

Predictably, this only caused Luffy to let out a loud, carefree laugh as he got off of them and clambered up to his feet. "My bad," he said, with that same unrepentant grin he'd always had. He adjusted the straw hat resting on the crown of his head before offering Ace a hand up. It was at that moment that Luffy finally seemed to notice that he was there at all.

Sabo, despite having looked forward to this moment for days, felt himself freeze under that curious gaze.

"Ah, that's right, Luffy. You're never going to believe it!"

"Hmm, who's this?" Luffy asked, his brow scrunched up in thought.

Sabo's heartbeat thudded loudly in his chest as he stared up at Luffy. In that moment, he forgot every explanation, every word he had prepared in advance. Nervous knots formed at the base of his stomach. He felt caught by those guileless eyes, and he would have remained like that, splayed out on the floor of the rooftop, if it wasn't for Ace dragging him up to his feet with one hard pull of his arm. Sabo stumbled until he felt a hand press warmly against the top of his back, the touch reassuring.

"C'mon, Luffy…" Gone was Ace's irritated tone. His voice was gentler than Sabo had ever heard him be. "Don't tell me you already forgotten the face of your other brother?"

At those words, Luffy grew very still and Sabo felt entirely naked as his little brother's gaze became hyper focused on him.

"O-Other…?"

Sabo's breath caught he watched Luffy's eyes widen and grow slightly watery.

"S-SA-SA-SABO?!"

Sabo forced himself to move, to nod, to say something. He offered his baby brother a small, helpless smile.

"Hey there, Luffy," he managed to whisper.

The tears in Luffy's eyes gushed forward, dripping down the entirety of his face.

"H-how…?"

"It's a bit of a long story but… it's really me, Luffy. Sorry for—" Sabo didn't even have the chance to finish before Luffy tackled him, nearly knocking them both back down.

"Saaaabooo….!" Luffy cried into his shoulder. His arms and legs were wrapped around him in a vice-like grip. The painful hold caused a warm feeling to blossom inside Sabo's chest. He sniffled slightly. "Sorry, Luffy," he continued in a muffled, hoarse voice. "I never meant to disappear on you like that. Sorry for letting you think I was dead all this time."

"It's fine now! What matters is that you're alive!" Luffy exclaimed, tightening his grip.

The easy acceptance caused Sabo's eyes to water. Luffy always made things so simple. He returned the embrace with equal force, holding on to Luffy tightly. "Thank you," he told him in a watery voice.

"Heheh, you've become such a crybaby, Sabo," Ace said with a teasing grin as he watched the two of them from where he naively thought was a safe distance.

"Shuddap! You cried earlier too!"

"Only 'cause you started it!"

"Saaaboo….!" Luffy cried again. And before any of them could say anything else, he dragged Ace into their embrace with a quick stretch of his arm.

It took a long while before any of them managed to regain their composure, but once they did, the brothers' mood was lighter than ever, each of them grinning widely despite their red-rimmed eyes. The three siblings were now sitting cross-legged on the floor of the rooftop, catching up on everything that there was to catch up on. At Luffy's eager request, Sabo filled in his little brother on what he had been up to all these years. He told Luffy a briefer version of what had happened to him than the one he told Ace, although he made sure not to exclude Dragon's role and identity in the story for his brother's sake.

Luffy, for his part, reacted almost exactly as he had expected, only tilting his head in mild curiosity at the news.

"I have a dad?" He didn't seem particularly concerned by the revelation. "Well, I'm glad he helped you out, Sabo! Shishishishi!"

When it was his turn, Ace turned the conversation into a very enthusiastic monologue about his newfound crew, showing off his tattoo with pride.

"What do you say, Luffy? Won't you join the Whitebeard pirates? Your friends can come too, of course."

"No thanks." The rejection was immediate.

"Heh, I figured as much. Just thought I'd ask."

"How come I'm not getting an invitation?"

"Sorry, Sabo, but you gave up the life of piracy, remember?" Ace pointed out with a wide, playful smirk. "Plus, I plan to help Whitebeard become the Pirate King, not Luffy... Still sure you want to join?"

"That's cold, Ace."

Luffy laughed. "That's fine! That just means we'll just have to fight!"

"See? He gets it!" Ace laughed as well and leaned in close enough to elbow Sabo, his eyes shining with amusement. "You've gotten soft, Sabo," he told him.

"You wish, loser." Sabo pushed him back, a good-natured grin stretching across his lips. "Need I remind you just who had to bail you out earlier?

"I didn't _need_ bailing," Ace insisted with a sharp scowl.

"Yeah, yeah. How about this then?" Sabo rose to his feet and drew his brothers' attention as he gestured behind him with his thumb. "Let's settle this with a race. First one to the docks?"

The two of them immediately scrambled to their feet.

"You're on!"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next chapter of Chasing the Remnants! "The Vow Between Brothers" Sabo, Ace, and Luffy board the Going Merry. Stories are shared, promises are given _—_ the future ahead looks bright.


	11. Chapter 11: The Vow Between Brothers

Thank you as always for all your wonderful comments. Hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

 _ **Chapter Eleven: The Vow Between Brothers**_

* * *

 _Nanohana: in the eastern side of the docks..._

"I can't believe it…"

"Did we actually..."

"Shishishishi! Alright, I won!"

Sabo and Ace stood side by side, staring blankly at their little brother as they tried to process how this had happened. The way to the docks had been a fast-paced struggle for the three of them as they jumped across several rooftops, ducked under some clotheslines, and plowed through a rather big crowd of bounty hunters who had tried and painfully failed to get in the way of their race. Somehow, in between all that, Luffy managed to get ahead of them, leaving Sabo and Ace to tie once they reached the end of the line only a couple of seconds after him.

"I can't believe it…" Ace said again. The expression on his face was astonished enough that Sabo understood right away that this was truly a first for both of his brothers. In contrast, Luffy's eyes were shining, nearly starstruck with excitement at the prospect of having won against not only Ace, but Sabo, too. The sight made any of Sabo's remaining shock melt away as he was overtaken by the undeniable need to smile at Luffy's profound joy.

"Yeah, you did, huh? That was great, Luffy!" he said, beaming proudly.

Ace did not take the loss as gracefully. The moment he regained his bearings, he shot Sabo an accusing look. "You went easy on him, didn't you, Sabo?"

Luffy's smile disappeared in a flash and he puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "No fair, you two. A loss is a loss!"

"He's right." Sabo nodded, but the solemnity of the movement was soon overshadowed by the growing smirk on his lips. "Plus, are you saying that's what you did, Ace? I guess I'm not the only one who's gotten soft, huh?" he said in a teasing voice.

"Ace has become really nice!" Luffy confirmed helpfully, rocking on his heels. "He learned manners from Makino!"

"Oh, _really_?"

"Shut up, Luffy!" Ace hissed. And Luffy must have been telling the truth (not that he had ever been capable of lying), because Ace, rather than losing his temper immediately, squirmed instead. His cheeks were steadily growing redder and redder, much to Sabo's endless delight.

"Please tell me all about it later," Sabo said, throwing his arm around his younger brother's neck, who laughed agreeably even as they dodged Ace's responding punch in their direction.

"Now, now, Ace. We can have a rematch later. Why don't we focus first on getting out of here before the marines catch up to us?"

"Tch." Ace crossed his arms over his chest but conceded. "Fine. Hey, Luffy," he said after a quick scan of their surroundings, "where's your ship docked up anyway? I thought we'd run into your crew already. Are we close?"

"Hmm, actually I'm not sure!" Luffy said, scratching the side of his head.

"You don't remember which harbor you arrived at?" Sabo asked, loosening his grip enough to allow Luffy to look around.

"Nope!"

"Oh, come on..." Ace complained. "Pirate Captains usually remember where they leave their ships, you know…"

"Eh, don't worry too much about it!"

"You are the same as ever." Ace's sigh, while heavy, was more put upon than concerned.

Sabo's reaction, on the other hand, was on the complete other end of the spectrum. His lips pressed together in a brief, worried frown before he carefully eased his expression into something a little more friendly.

"You know, Luffy, I've been following you for a while now ever since Loguetown. And I've been hearing a ton about all these crazy things you've been up to! Why don't you tell us a bit about your crew?"

His question had Ace glancing at him in curiosity and surprise. Sabo paid the look no mind and carefully watched his little brother as he answered.

"Shishishi! My crew's the best!" Luffy said proudly. "I've got a swordsman who wants to be the world's greatest swordsman," he began, counting with his fingers as he continued. "He likes to sleep, drink, and train a lot, and he always wears a haramaki! Then, I've got a navigator who likes maps, tangerines, and money, a cook who makes the best food... Oh, and there's a liar, too! And a reindeer!"

Luffy's expression was bright as he finished counting his crew off in one hand. Sabo was not exactly reassured by his enthusiasm.

"That's quite a variety you've got there," Ace pointed out when Sabo remained silent for a little too long. "Rather small for a pirate crew though."

"We just got a princess and a duck too. But I also want a musician!" Luffy added quickly. "That's definitely next on my list! They're all pretty amazing though," he said, visibly pleased with his choices.

It made it difficult for Sabo to get a real gauge on them. Luffy became very biased when it came down to people he liked or disliked, and he'd also grown up with them and the Fist of Love, so Sabo was well aware of the heights of Luffy's tolerance to bad tempers.

 _I'm going to have to just see them for myself,_ Sabo thought. Still, it wouldn't hurt to do a little more prodding.

"You like them, huh? Any of them give you any trouble?"

"Trouble? Like what?"

"What about the swordsman? Pirate Hunter Zoro, right? How'd you get a guy like that on your crew?"

"Ah! You heard of him?" If possible, Luffy looked even happier than before. "Shishishi, Zoro's the best. I got him first, yanno!" he told them, before pausing to give Sabo a wary look. "Don't you dare think about stealing him!"

Ace was also giving Sabo an odd look. His eyes were narrowed in that "you-and-me-are-going-to-have-a-long-talk-about-this-later-when-Luffy-isn't-here" way.

The loud growl that emerged from his stomach saved Sabo from answering either of them.

"Huh." The blond pressed a hand to his stomach. The sudden gnawing ache of hunger made him realize that he'd missed two-and-a-half meals since arriving at Nanohana. "I can't believe I haven't noticed, but I'm actually starving," he said, before shooting Ace a narrowed look of his own. "And of course, it would be too much to expect that _someone_ grabbed something for me after ditching me this morning."

Ace, at least, had the decency to look sheepish.

"You should eat with us then! Ace too!" Luffy proposed, clearly excited at the prospect of spending more time with them.

"That'd be great actually." Sabo was pretty grateful by the offer. This journey had left him absolutely broke. Not that that had ever stopped him from cleaning out restaurants before.

"I guess I wouldn't mind…" Ace said, scratching his cheek in thought, "but we still don't know where your crew is, remember?"

Luffy took this as his cue to hunt down his ship more seriously. He hopped up on the stone banister and sat down cross-legged on it as he scanned the horizon.

Sabo settled down beside him, leaning on the banister, but facing Ace instead.

"How long are you here for anyway?"

Ace shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Not too long. But I can spare some time."

"You're pretty far away from Whitebeard territory," Sabo mentioned. "Are you here by yourself?"

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy chimed in, only partially distracted, "I know Sabo was looking for me, but what are you doing here, Ace?"

Ace rubbed the back of his neck and chose to take Luffy's question first. "Didn't you get my message in Drum, Luffy?"

Sabo suddenly recalled Dr. Kureha's story. He'd almost forgotten all about that. "Oh! So that was you after all."

"Huh, I guess you got it instead? Anyway, yeah, I'm on my own. I'm just on these waters on minor business, so I thought I might hit two birds with one stone and meet up with Luffy, too."

"Oh!"

"Hmm? Did you see your ship?" Sabo craned his neck back and saw Luffy waving his arm wildly as he shouted into the distance.

"Yep! There it is! Hey! Over here! Guys!"

Sabo turned around to take a look for himself, but he noticed a little too late that Luffy had stretched his arm out in the direction of the ship. Even more egregious was the fact that he failed to notice that Luffy had braced himself on the Sabo's sleeve.

"Oh, sh—"

In the next second, he was clinging onto Luffy as the two of them flew across the vast sea.

"I'm baaaack!"

The two of them landed roughly atop the wooden floor, Sabo sliding slightly across it until he hit a row of white banisters.

"Oh, come on…"

"Not again..."

A murmur of exasperated voices rang across the ship. Sabo bit back a groan of his own as the back of his head throbbed in pain. This was the second time in a row he'd had to endure this sort of treatment today. At least this time, no one had landed on top of him.

"Sorry about that, Sanji! Chopper!"

Sabo pushed himself up on his elbows, rising just enough to see Luffy leaning back on his knees with an unapologetic grin. Beneath him, there was a blond man who was quick to regain his bearings with a short growl. The moment he sat up, he grabbed Luffy by the front of his shirt and shook him. "When are you going to learn your lesson?! I oughta gut you whole!"

A pretty, red-haired woman slid down from the riggings, approaching Luffy from behind to add a complaint of her own. "Seriously, Luffy! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?!"

"Sorry, Nami," Luffy said as he looked back at her, this time sounding a little more genuine.

The easygoing atmosphere was broken by a low, grave voice.

"Luffy… who's this?"

The crew stilled at the question and Sabo soon found several pairs of eyes staring right at him. The realization that there was a stranger amongst them made Luffy's crew grow immediately defensive. The blond who had been shaking his brother let go of him and swiftly turned around to glare at him, his tall body blocking Luffy's from Sabo's view. Behind him, Sabo heard someone step closer. He glanced at them briefly and spotted the familiar face of the infamous Roronoa Zoro glaring down at him, a hand wrapped around the hilt of one of his swords.

"Oh right," Luffy said, cutting through the thick tension with an oblivious laugh. "This is Sabo. He's my brother."

There was a beat of silence before a chorus of surprise rang across the deck.

"Your…Your brother?!"

A younger and much quieter voice let out a gasp that drew Sabo's attention. "Ah! It's you!"

Sabo looked down and his eyebrows shot up as he stared at the reindeer-like creature standing next to Luffy's blond crewmate. Although he looked much smaller, not to mention less reindeer-like than he had last seen him, Sabo was almost positive that this was the same reindeer he had briefly met back in Drum Kingdom. The blue nose was an unmistakable giveaway.

"Oh! Wow, I wasn't expecting to run into you here. You look a little different," he told the reindeer, wondering whether he was from the mink tribe, or whether this was the effect of a devil fruit.

"You've met Chopper!" Luffy exclaimed, peering around his blond crewmate at the same time the reindeer rushed to hide behind one of their legs.

"Briefly," Sabo confirmed. Luffy's brow wrinkled as he stared between the two of them in suspicion.

"You—"

"I'm not going to steal him either!" Sabo cut in before Luffy could even start, and as a result, his brother's grin returned as he nodded with satisfaction.

"Good! Anyway, Sabo, this is everyone that I was talking about! And our ship, Merry!" he added brightly. "What do you think?"

"Wait, wait a minute, Luffy," the redhead interrupted them. "But what about—just how many brothers do you have?"

At the same time that she finished her question, another voice jumped into the discussion with a very disgruntled tone.

"What's the deal with leaving me behind?"

"Ace!" Luffy twisted around in time to see Ace landing on the ship's railing. "You made it!"

Ace scratched the back of his head and let out a put-upon sigh. His gaze darted towards Sabo, who finally sat up from the awkward position he had landed in. Ace shot him a look that was partly amused, and partly sympathetic.

"So, I guess you haven't told them anything?" Ace said, addressing Luffy again.

At this, Luffy shrugged and casually picked his nose. "Not really."

Ace let out another heavy sigh before he finally stepped down on the deck. He proceeded to bow slightly as he addressed Luffy's crew.

"Thank you all for taking care of our little brother." he said, in a voice so polite that even Sabo had to double-take. Luffy really hadn't been kidding, earlier.

In response, Luffy's crew mirrored Ace just as politely. "Eh? Oh, not at all," they said in unison, bowing in return. Sabo's lips twitched into a small smile, and this time, with much less reservation than he had before, he joined in as well.

"He might be a bit much for you to handle too, but..." He shared a look with Ace, whose grin grew as much as his own as the crew politely tried to deny that impossible truth.

"Please continue to take good care of him," they both said.

With the formalities out of the way, Ace stepped up to give Sabo a hand up. Luffy, bouncing in excitement now that everyone was present, let out an energetic cry for food.

"Sanji! Prepare a feast!"

As if on cue, Sabo's stomach gave out another loud growl.

"Sorry to inconvenience you."

"It's no trouble at all," Sanji told him, lighting up a cigarette between his lips as he leisurely made his way to the galley.

Sabo took this time to put a name to the faces around him. Zoro was a given, and so was Chopper, now that Luffy had informally introduced them. The redhead's name was Nami, if Sabo recalled correctly. And it was obvious as to whom the blue-haired woman was: the missing princess of Alabasta, Nefeltari Vivi. The remaining member of the Straw Hats, a curly-haired, long-nosed guy who seemed to be around Luffy's age, did not garner any recognition from him.

"But to think that Luffy had brothers… For some reason, it never even occurred to me. And that they'd be so polite!" Nami muttered to herself. Beside her, the long-nosed guy was nodding along.

"If anything, I'd expected them to be just as inconsiderate…" he said.

"You guys…!" the princess hissed, a spot of color growing dark on her cheeks.

Luffy just laughed, amused by their reactions. "Yep! Sabo and Ace are my big brothers. They're the best, you'll see! And they're super strong too! Until today, I've never beaten either of them!"

"Hey, now, Luffy, don't get too excited. That was just a race!" Ace said, dragging Luffy into a chokehold. "It won't go the same way in a real fight!"

"Ack!"

"Wow… Brotherhood sure is great…" Chopper said, staring starry-eyed at their antics.

"...Oh, boy. Just how strong do you think they are? Luffy's already on a monster class of his own…" the long-nosed guy said.

"I wouldn't mind finding out for myself," Zoro said with a sharp grin.

"Please don't," Nami deadpanned.

 _What an interesting bunch…_ Sabo thought. It looked like all his worries were for naught after all. This already felt like home. Which reminded him...

"Ah, that's right. Luffy, do you mind if I invite a couple of people over?"

* * *

 _Several hours later…_

"SANJI! SECONDS!"

It was not the first time that afternoon that the cry for food was heard atop the Going Merry. Sanji hardly had a break in the past couple of hours as he prepared meal after meal for the three bottomless pits who called themselves brothers and the rest of those aboard the ship.

Despite the grim circumstances that had brought them all together, not to mention the odd hour of the day, the Straw Hats were partying at full force. They had, as Sanji begun preparing for the party, momentarily docked in an area not far from Nanohana, and Vivi parted ways here with her duck, Carue, entrusting him with the task of delivering a letter to her father explaining the conspiracy that lay behind Baroque Works and their mastermind, Crocodile.

Mindful of the purpose they had to fulfill, Nami assured Vivi that they would keep on sailing towards their current destination, Yuba, despite the festivities. This allowed Vivi to relax a little, but it was not until Hack and Koala arrived that she was truly able to feel at ease. Long, grateful tears had been shed by the princess when she realized that her small group of allies had grown twofold in that instant. The aid that the notorious revolutionaries could provide was a blessing more precious than words could express.

"AH! LUFFY, YOU BASTARD!" Zoro yelled as Luffy's hand stretched across the deck and swiped the food off of several of the plates in his path.

"Ah! Mine's gone too!" Chopper cried out.

"I'm beginning to understand why Luffy is like this during meals…" Nami said with a large sigh as she watched Ace and Sabo do the same with the plates that were in their vicinity, although they were at least polite enough to keep it between themselves. "It really is a matter of life and death when you put the three of them together." She took a long gulp from her beer mug in an attempt to drown out her horror.

Beside her, Koala shook her head, although in a more resigned manner. "Seriously… I'm kind of impressed, just watching them. Although, I don't know what else I was expecting," she said in the voice of one who'd had to endure watching this phenomenon for many years.

"They had me fooled for a good while there earlier," Nami went on, a bit of red growing on her cheeks as she continued to nurse her drink, "but they really are cut from the same cloth after all. Aaaahhh… And we just restocked too!"

"Sorry about this... " Koala told her, looking even more resigned if possible. "We'll give you guys a hand with the restocking at the next port," she offered apologetically.

"Oh? How kind of you! We'll happily accept!"

Koala was taken aback when Nami's eyes began to shine as bright as gold.

"You might want to be a little more careful than that with Nami, Koala-san," Vivi said, her shoulders shaking with restrained laughter. "She can be quite scary when it comes to money!"

"Err…"

"Ladies~~~"

Before Koala could contemplate regretting her words, Sanji swooped in like a small tornado and began dotting over the three of them. "How was the food, mademoiselles? May I offer you some more? Or perhaps, dessert? How about a refill for your drinks?"

This was far from the first time that Sanji had made his appearance, so Koala had already gained some experience on how to handle him. "I'm good, thank you. Everything has been absolutely delicious, Sanji-san," she told him with a smile that managed to pierce right through the cook's heart. He swooned.

"'cuse me! Could I get some more too?" Sabo called from the other side of the deck, even as he swiped another bite out of the corner of Ace's plate. His brother, who had fallen asleep on top of his food a few seconds ago, was unable to protest.

Sanji let out an annoyed noise under his breath. "Didn't I just feed you?!"

The rest of the afternoon passed on in this manner as they ate, drank and laughed amongst friends and family. Sabo only felt a little regretful that Hack had not stayed beyond the first round of introductions, but he understood there was still a lot of work to be done between Hack's crew and the men and women Sabo and Koala had brought along to Alabasta. The responsible part of Sabo did, momentarily, feel an internal pull to join him and get back to work already. But the urge was easily drowned out by the warmth that swelled inside of him every time he saw Ace and Luffy glance at him as if they still couldn't believe he was really here.

He felt the same way. Being this close to them, after all this time, made him wonder how he was ever going to manage to let go of either of them.

 _Well, at least I know Luffy's in good hands,_ Sabo thought, glad that he had finally gotten the opportunity to get to know his little brother's crew. All of his initial misgivings had well and truly vanished in the last couple of hours as he watched them all interact with each other. Chopper, of course, had been the easiest to like. The small reindeer was the newest member of the crew, and it showed in the sometimes naive, reserved way he interacted with everyone. He seemed to look up to Luffy a lot alongside Usopp, whom Sabo had also taken a quick liking to after having heard several of his hilariously entertaining tall tales.

Sanji himself was a man that Sabo effortlessly grew to respect. He had been incredibly kind from the moment they had introduced themselves. He was, at times, a little rough with his words, but his complaints held little weight in light of the care he showed in every plate he cooked and served them. Similarly in personality was Nami. The redhead had a hot temper that reminded Sabo of Koala. She was clearly the most sensible one around here, and managed to reel Luffy in the most, with Zoro being a close second.

As for the Pirate Hunter... It had only taken a few minutes in his company for Sabo to realize where the swordsman's loyalties lay. It was reassuring knowing Luffy had someone like that watching his back.

All of them, even the princess, seemed to have formed a closed-knit group despite the fact that Luffy had only set out on his journey a mere couple of months ago. Sabo knew he shouldn't be surprised about it. Despite oftentimes being reckless, thoughtless, and completely rash, Luffy was, at his core, a forced to be reckoned with. He had a magnetic personality that pulled everyone in from his first smile.

"He looks happy here... is what you're thinking, right?"

Sabo glanced at his side in time to see Ace wipe away the food plastered on his face with the back of his hand for the third time that day. He let out a small snort at how ridiculous Ace looked and only grinned when Ace elbowed him half-heartedly.

"I'm relieved, too," Ace told him as the two of them watched as Luffy ducked inside the galley, probably to raid the fridge again while Sanji was distracted. "It looks like they're taking good care of him."

"What about you, Ace? Are you happy?"

Sabo had gotten a good impression of Ace's crew earlier, when it had been just the three of them, but he watched Ace carefully nonetheless, wanting to hear the confirmation firsthand.

"Yeah… Guess I am," Ace said, attempting for nonchalance despite the dopey grin growing on his lips.

"Tell me about them," Sabo prompted, and Ace became alive with energy as he animatedly began to recount story after story about his crewmates, his captain, and the life he'd been leading all these years.

* * *

It was some time later, as the sun set low in the horizon, that the three brothers found themselves sitting beneath the shade of Nami's tangerine grove, crowded around a bottle of sake Luffy had successfully pilfered from the kitchen.

"Well, it's not the same as Dadan's, but it'll make due," Ace said, reaching forward to open the bottle with a wide grin.

 _How nostalgic…_ Sabo thought, unable to rid himself of the warm and happy feeling bubbling inside of him. Who would have thought that, after all the worries and dread he'd carried with him after regaining his memories, the reunion with his brothers would be such a simple affair. He felt a little stupid for having worried so much about their reactions. Koala had been right all along, not that he was about to admit it to her any time soon. He was grateful for her support, and for Dragon-san's too, for having agreed to indulge him in the first place all those weeks ago.

"Oh, that's right! Here, Luffy." The blond reached into his pockets and handed over the map Dragon had given him. "It's from your dad."

"What's this?" Luffy accepted the rolled-up parchment with a curious tilt of his head.

"It's a map. Though, I'm not sure where it leads to."

Luffy's eyes immediately took on a bright spark. "It's a Mystery Treasure!" he declared.

Sabo let out a short laugh. "Probably. Knowing Dragon-san, it'll be an adventure at least, for when you're done here. What about you, Ace? What are you doing after this?"

Ace put the sake bottle down beside him as he finished pouring the clear liquid into their cups. The light atmosphere of the moment dimmed slightly as Ace's smile faded away into a more serious expression.

"To be honest, I've been chasing after this one guy who committed the worst sort of crime one could on a pirate ship."

Sabo's eyebrows rose. "You mean…"

Ace nodded grimly. "He killed one of us. And as his former commander, it's my duty to deal with him."

Sabo frowned. "That sounds dangerous. I'm surprised Whitebeard let you go off on your own," he said, unable to hide some of his worry.

Ace's somberness faded away as his expression turned sheepish. "Well… I didn't particularly leave with his most wholehearted blessings…" he confessed, rubbing the back of his head.

"...The more things change, the more things stay the same with you, huh…?"

Ace squirmed in his seat.

"Shishishishi! That's Ace for you!"

"I don't want to hear that from you! Anyway, where are you off to next, Sabo?" Ace asked, pulling the side of Luffy's cheek until it stretched unnaturally, and releasing it with a painful snap.

Sabo hadn't really thought about it and he said as much with a small shrug. "Honestly, I'm actually on vacation right now. And given the state of things, I've been thinking about sticking around with Luffy for now."

"I'm fine with that." Luffy said, rubbing his reddened cheek. But he turned a stern glare towards the blond then, and told him, "but don't get in my way, Sabo! I'm the one that's gonna kick that Croco-guy's ass!"

Sabo couldn't help but to grin at his declaration. "You've become so reliable, Luffy!" he said. And he truly did mean his words despite the teasing tilt of his voice. "But I guess you do have a whole crew to look after you, huh? Maybe I should stick around with Ace instead."

Ace shot down that idea in the space of a blink. "No thanks, I don't need a minder," he told him.

Sabo clutched his chest as if an arrow had pierced right through it. "You sure know how to make a guy feel loved. C'mon, Ace," he wheedled, only partly serious in his request.

In response, Ace merely stuck out his tongue. Sabo's eyes narrowed.

"I'm going," he decided. "I have work where you are headed."

"You don't even know where I'm going!" Ace protested.

"Just so you know, the more you say no, the more I'm going to want to go with you."

"What kind of twisted personality have you developed, man…"

The three of them burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs as their shoulders shook and cheeks flushed. Their spirits were abuzz with happiness, the intoxicating, tingling feeling stretching beneath their skin.

 _I wish this day would never end…_ Sabo thought, and he could tell, just by looking at them, that his brothers were thinking the same. The idea of parting was almost unbearable.

"You know, Luffy... Right now, I'm making a difference out there alongside your dad and the revolutionaries. But I haven't forgotten my childhood dream. When I'm done with what I've set out to do, Luffy... will you let me join your crew?"

The excitement Luffy felt at the request was more than he could contain. He launched himself towards Sabo, throwing his arms around him tightly.

"OF COURSE YOU CAN!"

Over Luffy's shoulder, Sabo spotted Ace's jaw dropping with this belief. "Sabo, what the hell?!"

"What, are you feeling left out now?" He smirked.

"You can join any time, too, Ace!"

"You wish, you little snot!"

They settled down again around the sake cups, the three of them brimming with energy. "Alright," Ace said, picking up his cup. "Let's renew our vow with this sake once more. Now that we've reunited, we have to keep going after our dreams."

"To be Pirate King!" Luffy declared.

"To help Whitebeard to the top!" Ace added, aiming a challenging smirk at Luffy.

"To bring down the World Government!" Sabo said with a reckless grin of his own.

"The three of us won't be able to stick together like in the past... but the bond of brotherhood we share will never die," Ace proclaimed. "No matter where we are, or what we do… this is one bond we can never break. We'll keep going and live a life with no regrets! And above all…"

"We'll always be brothers!" the three of them shouted, clinking their cups together with feeling.

* * *

 _And so… in the mysterious sea that is the Grand Line, in the desert island of Alabasta, the three brothers were able to reunite once more against all odds. But for what the future may hold for them… That's a tale for another day._

 _THE END_

* * *

...For now ;)

I still have a lot more coming for this "universe", but this is the ending that I had originally envisioned when I first started writing this story. Now that I finally got here though, I've come up with so many more ideas of where to take off from here.

To give you guys a little preview of what I have coming up:

-An interlude chapter with Ace's POV of his initial meeting with Sabo

-A direct continuation of this story, picking up right where we left off - Ace and Sabo continue the search for Blackbeard

-I have plans for the map Luffy received as well...

Please be patient with me as I begin working on this project - it may take me some time to update, but your comments and feedback give me strength and keep me focused, so please don't forget to send me a short note of encouragement! I'd love to hear your suggestions and ideas for this universe, but no promises on them all making the final cut! I do plan to continue writing the sequels here rather than creating a new, separate continuation, so please keep following me here for updates!

Thank you for reading! :)


	12. Interlude: An Unexpected Reunion

I have not forgotten about this fic... I've still got a long ways to go before I'm ready to publish the sequel, but I wanted to share this interlude in the meantime as promised. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Interlude: An Unexpected Reunion**

* * *

 _The port town, Nanohana…_

It was only his first day in, and Ace's wallet was already suffering from his impulsive need to try all the delicious food lined up in the merchant's district. He'd had all the intentions of getting straight to work when he had been docking his Strider at a discrete location, but as he entered the town, he quickly became distracted by the various delectable scents wafting down the streets of Nanohana.

 _Everything looks amazing…_ Ace thought, hearing his stomach growl in agreement.

He wasted quite a bit of time going around all the food stalls, but Ace couldn't exactly say he regretted his choice. A full stomach often led to a sharper mind—his shitty grandpa had taught them a lot of useless things, but he did occasionally have his moments of wisdom. This bit of wisdom, in particular, was one that Ace had always taken to heart. He already felt more focused now that his appetite had been sated and he was ready to make his rounds, Luffy's Wanted Poster in one hand, the strap of his backpack on the other.

The aim today was to get more information regarding Teach's whereabouts, although he was also keeping his ears open for any updates about his brother's adventures. Ace had a strong feeling in his gut that assured him he would be running into both of them soon—he only hoped he got to meet Luffy first. It had been too long since he had last seen his baby brother. Although the last three years had been packed with many incredible adventures, he really did miss having Luffy at his side.

It had felt so strange to be without his brother, those first few months after having left Dawn Island. Ace had spent so many years alongside Luffy that the lack of his brother's company had left him to endure countless lonely nights. Even after having become Whitebeard's son, Ace oftentimes found himself resting atop of the Moby Dick's deck as he stared up into the starry sky, imagining Luffy beside him.

It wasn't that Ace regretted having parted ways. That had been a choice they had both agreed on. He just hadn't expected to miss Luffy this damn much.

 _Wonder what he's doing now...?_ he thought, a fond smile crossing his lips.

It was well into the afternoon when Ace's investigation finally bore fruit. The dry heat of the desert had left him parched, and when stopped by to grab a quick drink, he was more than rewarded for his venture.

"This kid again, huh?" said the bartender, eyeing the Wanted poster Ace had placed down on the counter.

"You know him?" Ace lit up, his lips stretching widely.

"Well, can't say I've seen him around here before," the bartender said with a small shrug, "but… there was someone else asking about this kid earlier."

Ace's smile dimmed, losing some of his excitement in light of this information. Alarms began to ring in his head as he wondered who else was looking for Luffy. _An enemy?_ he considered. It couldn't be a marine or else the bartender would have made some mention of the fact. "Oh? Would you mind filling me in a bit more? What did they look like?" he asked, trying to keep his tone friendly despite the tension growing on his shoulders.

The bartender only shrugged as he continued on with his work, wiping down the smooth, glossy counter between them. "Couldn't tell. They were wearing a robe. Sounded young, I suppose. Was about your height. They were here only a few minutes ago."

"Which way did they go?"

The man shook his head dismissively. "Out the door, and down to the next bar, I assume. They didn't stop by here for a drink at least."

After giving him the bartender a short, grateful bow, Ace headed out the door in a brisk, hurried pace. At this hour, the streets were packed with people, so Ace knew he would have a hard time following the mysterious person's trail, but he had to try nonetheless. He didn't want to leave a possible threat to Luffy unchecked. Ace had heard a lot of rumors regarding Luffy's adventures, but as proud as he was of his baby brother's accomplishments…

 _An older brother just can't help but to worry…_ he thought grimly, turning his focus to the task at hand.

Luckily for him, it took less time than he anticipated to run into his target. Just as the bartender had described, there was indeed a hooded person fishing around for information—and his target was as clear as daylight. Just as Ace had been earlier, the hooded person was holding up Luffy's Wanted poster up in one hand.

Ace cautiously drew near from a safe distance, noting that the hooded person was speaking with a woman that seemed a little familiar; one of the people Ace had spoken with this morning perhaps.

"-seen anyone asking about this kid?"

"Oh yeah, actually…" the woman said in a thoughtful voice. "There was this one guy earlier."

"What did he look like?" the hooded figure pressed.

The voice was certainly young, possibly within his age range. There was a curious tilt to their words, and they certainly didn't sound threatening, but Ace knew that going by that alone would be a foolish move on his part.

"Well… he was about your height, maybe a little taller. He, um, wasn't really wearing much," the woman said with a small grin and red cheeks, reminding Ace of the encounter. "Ah, but his hat really stood out!"

"Do you know where he went?"

Ace was briefly amused at the similarities between this person's questions and his own. It seemed like this person, too, had gotten sidetracked upon finding out there was someone else searching for Luffy.

 _Well, if you're looking for me instead…_

Ace wasted no time in closing the distance between them.

"And just why are you looking for this guy?" he asked, letting his voice carry as he stepped into view with a cocky grin on his lips.

The hooded person glanced back, and for a split second, they visibly froze.

"A-Ace…?!"

That was far from the reaction Ace had been expecting. The fire-user immediately tensed up. His dark eyes narrowed as he stared at the person before him, sizing them up.

"Who are you?" he asked in a cautious, guarded voice.

The hooded person fully turned around then, the movement slow and somewhat awkward. After a beat of silence, they slowly raised their hands and carefully drew back the hood covering them.

Ace's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to place whether he had ever met this person before. His eyes roved over the guy's appearance carefully. The person in front of him did not garner any immediate recognition, but there was something about the angle of his face, the way the light of the sun caressed the blond locks covering the right side of his eye. It brought painful memories to surface. _He almost looks like..._ Ace stilled the thought before it could finish forming.

"Hey," the stranger said, his voice quiet, almost frail. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Ace's muscles were taut with tension as he stared at the guy. Something about those words felt… wrong. The familiar way he was speaking to him, hell, the way this guy was looking at him, was putting him on edge.

 _Just who the hell was this guy?_ A hint of dread, of anger even, grew inside of him as the question nagged him. The name— _ **that** name_—had risen unbidden in his mind and was weighing heavily on his tongue.

Then, as if he was not already treading on dangerous waters, the stranger dared to say—

"It's me, Sabo."

Ace's stomach gave a nauseous curl.

 _Like hell,_ he thought, his teeth painfully grinding together as his jaw clenched tightly. _It can't be,_ he denied vehemently. _Who the hell is using your face_ — _who would **dare**_ —

Fire flooded his veins and threatened to burst through his skin. Ace felt every muscle in his body trembling with unrestrained fury. He stalked forward in two quick steps and grabbed the fake—he had to be fake—by the front of his cloak, pulling him close.

"Don't. Fuck with me here," he hissed at him, trembling heat coiling around his words with a commanding hum. The pressure in his chest was almost too much to bear. "Who the hell are you really? Answer me!" he demanded, shaking him.

Ace was so blind in his anger that it took him several seconds to realize the fake had yet to respond. He reeled in the fury and pain in his heart and focused on the threat before him—the threat that was… swaying on his feet?

"What the…"

Ace watched, incredulous and bewildered, as the fake's complexion took an unhealthy pallor. A slightly panicked look crossed the blond's eyes before the light in them dulled and his lids slid shut. He slumped in Ace's grip.

"Shit!" Ace hissed, stumbling as he struggled to hold up the unexpected dead-weight in his arms. Panic immediately set in as he realized how this must look—at this rate, someone was sure to cause a bigger scene and call in the marines.

 _Shitshitshit, I've gotta split—_

But when Ace looked around, looking for the best route to escape, he was shocked still by what lay before his eyes.

Everyone within eyesight had, for some reason, passed out as well. Bodies piled across the street, each of them delicately still, and some of them foaming at the mouth.

"...Well," Ace said aloud, trying not to be creeped out by what was happening. "At least this makes one thing easier."

* * *

Easier did not exactly equate to easy.

Carrying away an unconscious body that was slightly the same size as himself took Ace more time than he would've liked to spend, but it was a task that had to be done. After all that crap that this guy had said, Ace had all the intentions of interrogating him once he regained consciousness.

Just who was this person? Ace refused to believe it was actually Sabo, even though the resemblance, aged up as it was, was uncanny. The Grand Line was filled with strange phenomenons and stranger powers, Ace was more than well acquainted with that fact. It had to be some sort of trick.

But there was one thing that didn't add up.

 _How had he known that name? Why would he know what he means to me—to us?_ he wondered, thinking back on the fact that this guy had been asking around for Luffy. Ace had never once spoken to anyone about Sabo, and he doubted Luffy had either. For as much as a blabbermouth that his little brother was, he was never one to talk about the past.

It was those sort of thoughts that lingered in Ace's mind as he quickly made his way through the streets and towards the nearest inn. Once inside, he booked out a room as nonchalantly as he could despite his circumstances.

"My friend here drank a little too much," he told the innkeeper, who didn't bat an eye at him and merely handed over his room key.

When he was finally able to drop off his cargo on one of the beds, Ace took a moment to stare at him once more, this time with a cooler head. His eyes slowly roved over the stranger, taking all the details he hadn't before and lingering on the visible scars on the left side of the other's face. The raw, pink skin stood out amongst the sun-kissed complexion, stretching from above his eyebrow, and disappearing down under the neckline of his cloak. Morbid curiosity had Ace reaching forward, and before he realized it, he had unbuttoned the front clasp of the other's cloak. When the fabric fell away, pooling atop the bedsheets, Ace's breath froze in his throat as he took in the sight of that blue shirt, the cravat, the goggles dangling from his neck…

A small part of him couldn't help but to wonder if there was a chance that this person was actually Sabo.

 _"Who killed Sabo? It was this country! This world! And you think you can do a damn thing about that?!"_

Dadan's voice rang heavily through his mind, as if to remind him not to let foolish notions take hold of him. The old hag had always been harsh in her words, but Ace had been too hot-headed as a kid to listen to anything less than that. It had been those very words that had helped to ground Ace back when his grief had been too fresh and too strong to bear. But now… the wounds were reopening all over again, wounds that had never really healed, only scabbed and festered over. The guilt that he had always felt when he thought back on Sabo's death swelled up and burned like an infected blister. And with it, the hope that Sabo could be alive, rose too. It was a wish too costly to even consider, and yet he found himself wondering…

Could it be that Sabo never died on that ship? Could it be… that Dogra had been wrong?

But if that was the case, why hadn't Sabo contact them? Why had Sabo stayed silent all these years?

 _Is it… is it really you?_

It would be several hours before Ace would get an answer.

* * *

Ace dozed off several times as he waited for the other to wake up. In between that time, he found himself slowly becoming to terms with the fact that there was a possibility this guy could actually be his brother. But the longer he waited, the more worked up and confused he felt. It had been ten long years since they had last seen Sabo… Where had he been all this time?

And why is it just now that you decided to show up?

Ace could not make sense of that either, but it was hard not to draw a correlation between the fact that Luffy had just started making the news, and the fact that Sabo had been asking around for their brother. That nagging realization had a small, more vulnerable part of him wondering, _why were you looking for Luffy and not me?_

Ace's hand rose and covered the tattoo on his left arm as he stewed on his thoughts, staring at Sabo all the while until the sun had set outside and the room darkened.

By the time Sabo finally woke up, Ace had put some distance between himself and the source of his growing heartache. But the moment Ace heard the faint sound of movement behind him, the muscles of his back grew stiff.

"Huh. He didn't punch me..." The quiet, shocked words filled the room, and for some reason, that small insignificant sentence is what settled it for Ace. If he had any lingering doubt that this was an impostor, it was gone now.

He swallowed hard, and decidedly kept his voice even as he answered in reply:

"Well, I was definitely tempted to."

Ace kept his eyes outside on the streets, tracking the few people who were still awake at this late hour. He tried to ease the tension that had settled in his body, and put his best effort to still the thousand questions he had on his tongue. "But you know," he said instead, "you went and passed out on me instead."

"Oh. Sorry."

Ace let out a quiet snort at the lame reply before finally turning around. In the dim room, it was hard to see Sabo's face. Only the faint outline of his body was visible. Ace slowly walked towards him, his footsteps heavy, and he took a seat across from Sabo once more.

Now that Sabo was awake, Ace felt the impulse to reach out to him, touch him. But the distance between them felt great. Ace's heart hesitated. The silence between them was long. Ace wasn't sure where to even start.

"Ace…" Sabo's voice finally broke the silence. It startled Ace, and he realized he didn't want this conversation to take place in the cover of the night, unable to see each other's faces. He lit up the candles beside them at the same time Sabo continued. "I—" he began.

But his voice cut off when the warm light of the candles on the nightstand was cast across the room, Ace was surprised to see Sabo flinching away, his right hand coming up to cover his face instinctively.

 _Oh,_ Ace realized with a pang in his stomach, eyeing the scars peeking out behind his hair.

Sabo offered him a slanted grin. "Hah… I guess they don't call you Fire-Fist Ace for nothing."

 _I'm an idiot,_ Ace told himself, pressing his lips together. Hating himself for having caused the flash of fear on Sabo's face, even for a second. He should've known, it should have been obvious, but…

All of the sudden, Ace found himself filled with exhaustion.

"Sabo, what the hell."

Ace's voice was short, clipped, restrained. He did his best to keep his fatigue—alongside the other swirl of emotions—from showing in his voice, on his face. But his fingers couldn't help but to twitch as he stared at Sabo, drinking him in once more now that he was awake.

He had thousands of questions for Sabo, some he wasn't sure he could bring himself to voice. But Ace started with the most important one, the one that mattered. And here, he was unable to keep some of his anger from showing in his voice.

"Where the hell have you been?"

The question was loaded with so many others. Sabo, perhaps able to hear them all, averted his gaze briefly. "I'm…" The blonde visibly swallowed. "I'm not sure if you ever got my letter..." he began haltingly. He glanced up then, as if waiting for a response, and Ace nodded, the small motion cueing Sabo to continue. The blonde took in a deep breath, clearly preparing himself for a long tale.

"That day, when I set out, there was an explosion."

"I know that much," Ace cut in sharply, feeling a tremor ran up his spine at the reminder of that day. "Doga saw your ship blow up. We thought you were dead." He threw the words out as the accusation they were.

He didn't expect the shock.

It was written plainly across Sabo's pale face. He had no idea—no idea of the heartache they had suffered. No idea what his death had done to them, how it had broken them. He had no idea, Ace realized, that they had known about that incident.

And what did that even mean? Ten long years of silence, when all he had to do is send a letter back home.

 _I'm safe,_ he could have said.

 _I'm free._

 _I'm happy._

Anything would have done. Instead, Sabo had kept quiet—had simply sailed on after that incident, never looking back. _Why?_

Ace couldn't wrap his head around it, so when he heard Sabo's whispered words, his quiet apology, he couldn't help but to snap.

"Luffy cried for days," Ace told him, and he thought of his own tears as he had clutched to the last memory he had of Sabo all those years ago.

 _Let's meet again someday,_ the letter had said.

Now that they had, an ugly bitter feeling welled up inside of him. And beneath that, that vulnerable part inside of him was ripping open.

 _Did you hate us that much? Did you resent us for not saving you when we had the chance?_

Luffy's voice rang in his head strongly, echoing the dread in Ace's stomach.

 _"He wasn't happy after all!"_

When Ace focused back on the present, he saw Sabo trembling. The expression on his face was more honest than he probably realized. It made Ace's swallow back most of his anger, most of his fears.

"What happened," Ace said, and Sabo began to talk.

It felt like hours passed as Sabo spoke about everything that had occurred after his father had separated them. Ace felt ice flooding his veins as he heard the pain in his brother's voice as he described the fire on Grey Terminal, the circumstances that led him to flee, and ultimately, the reason behind his silence.

Amnesia.

After the explosion, Sabo had woken up without even knowing his own name and he had spent these last ten years under the care of the revolutionaries—under the care of Luffy's own father even. There was hesitation in Sabo's words, guilt too, as well as an emotion Ace was beginning to recognize, one he was intimately familiar with.

He felt a pang in his stomach at the thought of Sabo living with that level of self-loathing.

"And then I went to Loguetown. I felt drawn to it, even though at the time, I couldn't understand why. I think it reminded me of…" Sabo faltered, and Ace understood why. "Anyway, that's where I saw Luffy," he said instead.

"You met him?" Ace asked, his eyebrows flying up in surprise.

"Well, kind of." Sabo's tense expression finally softened into something warmer. He ran a harried hand through his hair. "That little troublemaker… I don't think he noticed me at all given how busy he was trying to get executed."

"He _what_." Ace fully straightened up now, his eyes wide and incredulous, his nostrils flaring with irritation.

Of all the stupid things Luffy could do—

"Oh, yeah. One minute, I'm walking around town, chasing after ghosts, and the next thing I see is Luffy cuffed up at the top of the gallows, with a guy about to chop of his head!"

His words had Ace pinching the bridge of his nose. "That _idiot_. I'll kill him," he growled.

Sabo snorted. "You better get in line, Ace. I called dibs first this time!"

The quip fell so easily from Sabo's lips, its light-hearted warmth causing a fond rush of affection to course through Ace. He closed his eyes for a second, savoring the moment.

 _This is too good to be true… isn't it?_ There was a small part of him that couldn't help but wonder when the other shoe would drop. And yet, he couldn't help but to bask in the moment.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to the sight of Sabo curling into himself, shoulders hunched and expression hesitant. It made something inside Ace ache and burst all at once.

"So I guess that's what…?" he prompted softly. Sabo graced him with a tight, grateful smile and continued on.

"Yeah. After witnessing that… Well, the shock alone was enough for me to get my head on straight, I guess. But when I woke up after that, Luffy was already long gone. I've been on his trail since then… Never thought I would run into you first."

Sabo rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. His next words were so soft, Ace almost didn't catch his them.

"I was afraid to meet you, you know," he whispered. "I wasn't sure… I thought you'd…"

"Sabo…"

"I thought you would hate me," Sabo said, closing his eyes tight and hanging his head low.

"Sabo…" Ace said again, a little more firmly. When Sabo looked up, Ace held his gaze with his own, staring deeply into the eyes of the brother he'd once thought lost. He would have never in a million years thought he'd be granted with such a reward. For him, cursed with the blood in his veins, to be so monumentally blessed like this could only be a dream.

"It is you, isn't it? This isn't a joke or a dream?" he asked, unable to help himself.

"It's not a dream," Sabo said immediately. "I'm here, Ace," he said tremulously, ducking his head away from sight as as tears spilled forth from his eyes. "I'm here," he sobbed.

Ace sprung forward then, his warm fingers brushing against Sabo's wet cheeks before sliding to the back of his neck and tugging him close. Ace's arms wrapped around the entirety of Sabo's back, squeezing him tight.

"I'm glad," Ace whispered into his shoulder, holding him tightly. " _I'm so glad that you're alive._ "

The words caused Sabo to let out an even louder sob and he clung back just as tight.

"I'm sorry," Sabo hiccupped, muffling the words into Ace's shoulder.

"Shut up, you idiot," Ace said, his voice equally as tremulous and wet.

The two stayed like that for a long time.


End file.
